The Lessons of Lhikan
by Tollian
Summary: Vakama knew very little about Lhikan's past, but every once in a while Lhikan would tell him a story . . .
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**: Alright, another short little story for all of you! Well, it's actually a series of oneshots about Lhikan and Vakama. Anyway, here's the first installment, so enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: As of yesterday I am the proud owner of a Jaller Mahri set, but Bionicle itself belongs to LEGO. Oh, Toa Sicar belongs to me, but that's it.

The Lessons of Lhikan

1 - Anger 

Toa Lhikan breathed deep the morning air and smiled. Today was going to be a good day, he knew it. The feeling only grew as he made his way through Ta-Metru towards his friend's forge. He always enjoyed visiting Vakama. They would talk about what they had been up to since the last time they saw each other and also what news they heard. Lhikan told Vakama about the goings on of Metru Nui as a whole and Vakama talked about the little things going on in Ta-Metru.

But information wasn't the only thing exchanged. The Toa of Fire often brought the Matoran high-level disks to use for his masks. They were never wasted. The masks made by Vakama were amazing to say the least and made him very well respected. But the Ta-Matoran always gave something back to the Toa, though it was subconsciously. While Lhikan was with Vakama, the Toa could forget his troubles and relax, be himself. That was something he was rarely allowed to do anymore.

As the Toa drew near to Vakama's forge he took out a level 7 disk to present to his friend. He knocked on the forge door and waited. Posed to knock again, Lhikan jumped as a yell sounded from behind the door.

"AUGH!"

Without pausing, Lhikan kicked the door open and entered the blistering heat of the forge. Drawing on his elemental power, Lhikan got ready to blast whatever villain had decided to harm the Matoran. But instead of some Dark Hunter or even a Rahi, Lhikan only saw Vakama standing at his work table looking over the remains of a mask. The Toa sighed with relief and put a hand over his thumping heart. _Maybe Nidhiki's right_, he thought. _Maybe I am getting a little too tense._

He was about to hail his friend and ask what the trouble was when the Matoran spun around, yelling "Stupid mask!" and threw one of the larger pieces of broken mask in the Toa's direction. It was only his quick reflexes that allowed Lhikan to duck the object. As it hit the wall with a resounding _clang_ Lhikan straightened himself, looked at the small dent in the wall, then at his friend. Vakama was horrified to see what he had done and was holding one hand over his mouth.

"Good throw," Lhikan said, smiling. He picked up the piece, which looked to be half a mask of water breathing, and brought it over to the still dismayed Matoran. "Uh, may I ask _why_ you were flinging pieces of Kanohi Kaukau at the wall?"

Vakama timidly took the mask fraction and immediately started babbling out apologies. "I am _so_ sorry, Toa Lhikan! I never meant to throw the mask at you! If I knew you were there I would have-"

Lhikan raised his hand in a gesture of silence, still smiling. If Lhikan was too tense, then Vakama was lacking self confidence like none other. "Apology accepted," he said, knowing this would be the quickest way to stop the Matoran. "Now tell me, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with the mask?"

A little of the old anger came into the Ta-Matoran's eyes. "Yes! Something's wrong with it and I don't know what! I've tried to make the Kaukau over and over again using different techniques, different power levels, everything! But no matter what I do it always ends up exploding in my face. First, I . . . ."

As the Vakama explained in technical terms what exactly was going wrong, Lhikan nodded and tried in vain to keep up with his friend. Though Lhikan spent much time with Vakama, he himself wasn't much of a mask maker and had a hard time understanding what his friend was saying. Lhikan waited until the Matoran had talked out some of his frustration and then took a turn in the conversation.

"How long have you been working on this, Vakama?"

"All yesterday and all night," was the reply.

Lhikan felt his eyes widen. "Without any breaks?"

The Matoran shook his head 'no.'

"Well, there's your problem! You know perfectly well you can't do a good job if you don't sleep! That's probably why you're so cranky too."

Again, Vakama looked apologetic. "I really am sorry, Toa Lhikan. I was just so frustrated."

"I know, but you really shouldn't take out your anger in such a violent way. It usually comes back to hurt you," admonished the Toa. Then he laughed. "You know, I remember doing something very similar to what you just did, back when I first became a Toa."

Vakama looked up at the Toa who was staring into the distance with an amused glint in his eye. "What did you do?" Vakama asked his interest piqued. It wasn't every often that Lhikan talked about his distant past.

Lhikan smiled down at his friend and said, "Something very stupid. Let's sit down and I'll tell you . . . ."

Somewhere far from Metru Nui, a small island stood among the great sea, a great fortress dominating the land. Its red walls stood tall and thick, practically impenetrable, and it was known as the safest place to hide anything. Not only was the fortress impressive with secret areas, mazes, and puzzling locks, but the guards were some of the best-trained Toa ever known. The fortress was also a well known Toa school with great instructors and many Toa came great distances to train there. But the fortress was also home to many Toa and Matoran. One specific Toa who was born and raised in this fortress, a young Fire Toa with a golden Hau, was standing in the training area of the fortress bathed in the red light of the setting suns. He took a few deep breaths and flexed his hands on the hilts of his fire swords anxiously. He looked over to where another Toa of Fire was sitting on the ground with a stop watch, and waited for the signal. The elder Toa glanced up from his stop watch, nodded, and announced, "Go."

As soon as the word was said, the young Toa was off like a shot and onto the obstacle course laid in front of him. First, he jumped over a series of high bars, sliced through a manikin, and put away his swords as he rolled under the next set of bars, barely winded. Next, he climbed up a rope ladder and when he reached the top he flipped off onto the ground where he proceeded to take out his swords and cut through five manikins, spinning and twirling as he did. Sweat was beginning to trickle down his face and his breath was becoming forced, but he didn't stop for a break. Instead, he put away his weapons once again and jumped to the first ring of a set of monkey bars. But weary from his previous drills, his hand failed to get a firm hold and the young Fire Toa slipped and fell onto his back in the dirt.

He lay there, panting while the Toa with the stop watch stopped the timer, stood, and headed down to his exhausted companion. "3 minutes and 42 seconds," he announced and glanced down. "You're getting worse, Lhikan."

"I'm . . . _tired_ . . . Toa Sicar," Lhikan panted. "We've been . . . doing this . . . all day."

"Well, practice makes perfect," Toa Sicar said as he offered Lhikan a hand up. "And I told you not to call me Toa Sicar anymore, just Sicar. We're equals now, yeah?"

Lhikan allowed himself to be pulled up. "I've been a Toa . . . for about a week. I hardly consider myself . . . equal."

Sicar shrugged and began to walk back to the starting point. "That's what these drills are for, to help you improve. Now, take it a little slower on the jumps and you should have enough energy for those monkey bars. If you can do it under two minutes, we can stop for the day."

"Wait, we're doing it _again_? We've done it at least twenty times!"

Toa Sicar turned and said, smiling, "Seventeen times. And, yeah, we're doing it again! You can stop when you reach twenty, yeah?" He frowned as the young Toa groaned. "Oh come on, it's not that bad."

"You're not the one doing it!"

His frown becoming deeper, Sicar said, "I've done it before, you know, all the Toa here have. It's required. My time was one minute thirty six seconds. Now, do it under two minutes and we can stop."

"I can't do it anymore, Sicar!" Lhikan yelled, becoming desperate.

"If you have breath to yell, you have breath to run. You're doing it again," the older Toa said, turning and continuing to the starting point. "You'll thank me for this later."

Turning his eyes to heaven and sighing exasperatingly, Lhikan did a slow jog up to the start line. Sicar was already sitting down, ready to start the watch as Lhikan took out his swords and positioned himself. "Okay, go."

This time Lhikan managed to jump over two bars before becoming entangled with the third and falling face down into the dirt. "That's _it_!" he cried frustratingly, taking his swords and putting them together. As hard as he could he threw his weapons and turned to Sicar. "I'm going home," he announced with as much dignity as his dirt covered mask would allow. "I'll come back tomorrow and do twenty-five drills, but no more tonight."

Sicar shrugged and said, "Fine with me, but twenty-five tomorrow." He stood and stretched, and looked to where Lhikan had thrown his swords. His eyes widened and he started to call a warning but it was too late.

The magma swords were spinning in the air, much like a boomerang, and like a boomerang, were heading back toward its thrower at considerable speed. Lhikan only became aware of this fact as the weapons hit the back of his head, sending the young Toa face down into the dirt again. As the swords fell to the ground, Sicar dropped his watch and ran to his fallen comrade.

"Lhikan? Hey, Lhikan, buddy, you okay?"

Lhikan made a 'thumbs up' sign, but otherwise didn't move.

Sicar laughed and patted the young fire Toa on the back. "So, did we learn a lesson today?"

Lhikan nodded. "Yeah," he said, propping himself on his elbows and rubbing the back of his head. "Never trust your swords."

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'don't throw away your weapons.' Also, maybe a little something about anger?"

"Don't take out anger in a violent way. It will come back to hurt you," Lhikan said, after thinking for a bit.

"That's better. Now come on, you need a rest. Tomorrow, if you do the drill right, maybe we can work on your sword throwing, yeah? Could be useful in battle someday."

Lhikan smiled up at his mentor. "Sure."

"Eventually I became very good with my swords. That throwing trick is very useful and all the training that Toa Sicar forced on me made me into the Toa I am today." Toa Lhikan looked down at his folded hands. "He was a very good mentor and friend."

"Did you ever finish that obstacle course in good time?" Vakama asked after a brief silence.

Lhikan smiled. "Oh yes, my fastest time was one minute and twelve seconds, but that was after years of practice. It took me weeks just to get under two minutes and a lot of lessons too, like the one I just told you."

"It's hard to imagine you inexperienced," Vakama said. "It was almost like the person in your story was a different Toa."

"He was in a way," said Lhikan, looking at his friend. "I've changed a lot since then, matured. The lessons I've learned along the way made me into me." Everything was silent for a moment except for the roaring of the forge fire. "Oh, I almost forgot," Lhikan mumbled, handing Vakama the disk he had brought. "This is for you. But sleep before you make anymore masks," he advised.

Vakama nodded eagerly, carefully examining the disk. "Wow! Power 7! Thank you, Toa Lhikan."

"No throwing this one, okay?"

The Matoran nodded and smiled.

**A/N **: Yep. So I have at least two more chapters planned, possibly three. I'm open to suggestions and reviews are much appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes**: Wow, I think this is the fastest update I've ever done. Well, it's up now, so enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: No, I don't own Bionicle, that wonderful company in Denmark does. Wish I did, but I don't.

Two: Meetings

Vakama smiled and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He was finally done! Picking up the Great Mask and taking off his goggles, the Mask-Maker inspected his work with a trained eye. Finding no flaws, he set it down on his work bench and started to put away his tools.

"Wow, a Kakama?"

Vakama jumped about five feet in the air and whipped around to face the voice behind him, sending his firestaff and about seven Kanoka disks clattering to the floor. As he bent down and picked up his tool, he smiled shakily up at his friend. "Oh, hello Toa Lhikan."

"Sorry if I scared you," the Toa apologized, kneeling and picking up some of the Kanoka disks. "I just came by to see how you were and I saw you were making a Mask of Speed."

"Yes, Dume ordered it. I'm actually done with it and was about to deliver it to the Coliseum."

Lhikan picked up the Great Kakama and smiled. "It's well done. Reminds me of your first Great Mask."

Vakama frowned for a moment, confused, and then smiled as he remembered. "Oh yeah! The one that saved your life, right?"

The Toa nodded. "It was when we first met, remember?" Lhikan asked.

Vakama grinned. "How could I forget?"

-----------------------

"Vakama?"

The Ta-Matoran turned around, setting his tool down on the work bench. "Yes, Nuhrii?" Vakama asked.

"We're running low on disks," Nuhrii said, not taking his eyes off the Mask he was making. "Specifically Regeneration, Enlarge, and Removes-Poison disks. Could you go get some?"

Vakama repressed a sigh. He'd been hoping Nuhrii was going to give him a _real_ job this time. "Sure, Nuhrii," he said lightly.

"Good. I'll get you some money." Nuhrii took off his working goggles, tossing them on the bench, and opened a drawer in his desk.

As Nuhrii searched through the drawer, Vakama fidgeted nervously, knowing this would be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He couldn't ask when Nuhrii was working because it was too much of a distraction, and Nuhrii wasn't much for socializing. The Ta-Matoran gathered his courage and cleared his throat. "Um, N-nuhrii?" Vakama started.

"Yeah?"

"I, uh, I've been wondering. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but, well, I've been your apprentice for several months now. Shouldn't I be learning how to make Masks?" Vakama looked at his workbench covered with paint, brushes, and drying Masks. "You know, instead of painting them?"

"Painting the top of the Masks is an important job," he said distractedly.

"I know, the silver tops allow us to discern which Masks are powerless," Vakama said, turning back towards his mentor. "But I think I'm ready to learn how to make them. I've been studying; I know all the Masks and their power—I even know which disks make which Masks. I just need to learn the techniques of making them."

For the first time, Nuhrii turned to Vakama. "Making Masks takes more than facts. Anybody can memorize the Kanohi. Mask-making takes skill. You think you're ready to make Great Masks that might be worn by Toa Lhikan one day?"

"Well, not right away," Vakama said, faltering. "But I made—"

"You're not ready, Vakama," the Mask-Maker interrupted. "I promise I'll start teaching you soon, but right now, get those disks for me."

Vakama sighed and looked at the floor. He had been expecting this outcome. "Yes, Nuhrii."

Nuhrii smiled and dropped some money in his apprentice's hand. "Good. Now, don't be long. You need to have at least five more Masks painted before the end of work."

The apprentice nodded and started towards the door of the forge as Nuhrii turned back to his Mask. At the doorway Vakama took out the Mask he had been going to show to Nuhrii. It was a beautifully crafted Great Kakama, with no scratches or flaws to be seen. Vakama sighed thinking of how much time and effort he put into it. _I _am_ ready,_ he thought. _If you'd just let me prove it._

Putting the Mask back into his pack, Vakama headed out into the street towards the Kanoka seller. Sounds of fires and pounding filled the street as Vakama walked past forges, staring enviously at them. It was his dream to become a great Mask Maker one day and to get a forge of his own. _But that's never going to happen,_ he reminded himself. _You're an apprentice and aren't ready to make Masks yet._

"Hey! Vakama, wait up!"

Vakama turned to find his friend Jaller running towards him. "Hey, Jaller!" he greeted. "What are you doing away from work?"

The Mask-Maker smiled, slowing as he reached his friend. "Getting some more disks. I'm running low on Reconstitutes-at-Random disks again. You?"

"The same."

Jaller smiled. "Oh, good. We can walk together then."

Vakama smiled and nodded, the two Matoran falling into stride.

"So, I haven't seen you in a while. Anything interesting going on?"

Vakama shrugged. "Mm, not really."

"Well, what are you doing at work?"

"Painting Masks," the apprentice said dully.

"_Painting_? Shouldn't you be learning how to _make_ them by now?" Jaller asked.

"I'm not ready."

Jaller narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Did Nuhrii tell you that?"

Glancing over at his friend, Vakama shrugged.

"You should really talk to him about starting to actually teach you something."

Vakama only shrugged and opened the door to the Kanoka Shop. Inside the small building, the air smelled strongly of raw protodermis and there were shelves upon shelves of disks. The owner, Agni, was sitting behind his desk, looking rather bored until the two Matoran walked in. Agni immediately stood up, ready to help his customers.

"Good morning, you two. Anything I can help you with?" he asked politely, walking around to the other side of his desk.

Jaller smiled and held up his hand. "Not today, Agni, thanks. I just need a few more Reconstitutes-at-Random."

"Again?" Agni asked, smiling.

Jaller nodded. "Yeah. I just can't seem to get that Mask to stop blowing up in my face." He walked over to a specific shelf and starting to look through a stack of disks.

"And what about you, Vakama?" the shop owner asked. "Here to buy more high level disks? Or just practice ones?"

Vakama gave a weak smile and shook his head. "No, strictly business this time. Nuhrii needs Enlarge, Regeneration, and Removes-Poison disks."

"Ah. Lucky for you, I just got a new batch of Enlarge disks, straight from Ga-Metru this morning." The Ta-Matoran went behind his desk and pulled out a stack of disks. "Look through these and I'll go get the others you wanted."

As Agni walked to the storage room at the back of the shop, Jaller walked towards Vakama, holding four disks under his arm. "High level disks?" he asked. "You've been making Masks?"

Selecting a level five out of the pile, Vakama turned to Jaller. "I've been making them in my spare time. I come here after work, buy a couple of practice disks and work on them during the evening. I've been getting rather good so I saved my money and bought a high level disk."

"Good for you!" Jaller congratulated. "How did the Mask turn out?"

Vakama took out the Kakama and handed it to the Mask Maker, turning back to the pile. As he pulled out a level six disk, Jaller looked over the Mask with a trained eye.

"Vakama," he said seriously. "How long have you been working with the practice Masks?"

"A couple of months," Vakama replied. "I wanted to be well practiced before I tried with a powerful disk."

"A couple of months?" laughed Jaller. "Vakama, this Mask is _amazing_! I've been at this job for years and I can't make a Mask this good."

Vakama turned. " . . . Really?"

"Here they are!" Agni announced, walking back from the storage room with several disks in his arms. He dumped them on the table in front of Vakama. "I got a couple of each," he said, "because I wasn't sure what level you . . ." He trailed off as his eyes fell on the Mask. "Holy Kanoka," he muttered. "Vakama, did _you_ make that?"

Fidgeting uncomfortably, the apprentice nodded.

"Mata Nui, Vakama, what are you still doing as an apprentice?"

"That's what I was thinking," said Jaller. "I'm going to have a long talk about this with Nuhrii."

Jaller said something else but Vakama stopped paying attention, bringing his hand to his head. Everything was going blurry; even Jaller's voice was dim—

_Furnace salamanders, a swarm of them! And they were angry. Toa Lhikan was in the midst of them, trying to bat them away from his face and back away from them at the same time. But flying Rahi had strength in numbers, one biting the Toa whenever his attention was turned to another. Even as Vakama watched, Toa Lhikan fell to his knees, the painful bites driving him to the ground. Then he fell into a molten protodermis channel and sank into the fiery liquid._

Vakama came back to the present and stumbled back. It was another vision. He didn't have them often, but he had them enough to know the events shown had a bad habit of coming true. _If this vision is true_, Vakama thought to himself, _then Toa Lhikan is in trouble_. "Um, listen, thank you for your compliments, but I have to go. Nuhrii's waiting," he said hurriedly, grabbing his selection of disks from the desk.

Jaller frowned. "Vakama, are you okay?"

"You look as white as a Ko-Matoran," Agni added.

Vakama smiled shakily. "Fine," he lied, not wanting his friends to think him crazy. "Just a dizzy spell."

"Okay. Well, here's your mask back," Jaller said, handing over the Kakama.

Vakama took it and shoved it into his pack along with the disks. He threw Nuhrii's money on Agni's desk and ran out of the store, shouting 'bye' over his shoulder at his two confused friends. The Ta-Matoran ran down the street, only slowing as he passed a squad of Vahki Nuurakh . In his vision Toa Lhikan had been in a foundry and Vakama knew which one; he had worked there for several years before becoming Nuhrii's apprentice. After the Vahki had gone, he ran for a couple of bios more then turned around the corner, past a startled Tool Maker, and threw open the door of the foundry.

The inside of the building was empty, void of its usual workers. Vakama paused and took out a disk launcher and a power-level-three freeze disk he had in his pack, and proceeded further into the building. Nothing seemed to be amiss, other than the missing door leading to the room where the molten protodermis ran through channels in the floor. Hesitating only a moment, Vakama opened the door and stepped into the heat of the room.

He stood there a moment, allowing his body to adjust to the change of atmospheres. When he could breathe a little more easily he looked around at the channels of protodermis, looking for Toa Lhikan. For a moment, he was worried that maybe his vision was wrong, or worse, that it had already happened. He wandered through the heat of the foundry for what seemed like an eternity. Then he heard the buzzing of the furnace salamanders and he took off at a run toward the sound. Following the channel of molten protodermis to his left, he turned around a corner and found his vision had been right after all. Toa Lhikan was on his knees, reduced to merely holding his arms in front of his face.

Thinking quickly, Vakama replaced the freeze disk with a low power Teleportation disk and taking quick aim, fired at Toa Lhikan. It was risky; Teleportation disks were unpredictable and might make the situation far worse. But, remembering his vision, Vakama knew that this might at least give Toa Lhikan a chance.

Meanwhile, Toa Lhikan was reflecting on how foolish he had been. He had been up late last night dealing with an insane villain from another island and when he got home to get some sleep finally, he was interrupted by two Ta-Matoran. They said they worked in a foundry that had been infected by a nest of furnace salamanders and they couldn't get any work done. Normally, furnace salamanders weren't aggressive Rahi, but when their nest was disturbed, they would do anything to drive out the offender. The Vahki had been pulled to Onu-Metru to take care of another breach in the Archives so it was up to Lhikan. He thought that he would be through with the matter rather quickly. After all, what was a bunch of Rahi compared to a Fire Toa?

Unfortunately, the salamanders were resistant to fire and no matter how many he killed with his magma swords, there always seemed to be more. Eventually, their painful bites drove him to the point where he couldn't think and he had fallen to his knees. He was in the middle of thinking how stupid he was to not have notified the other Toa about where he was when he felt something hit his side. The next thing he knew the bites had stopped and someone was pulling at his arm.

"Toa Lhikan! We have to run, the salamanders are coming! Toa Lhikan!"

The Toa opened his eyes to find a Ta-Matoran urgently shaking him. Instantly his Toa instincts kicked in and cleared his hazy mind. He grabbed the already running Matoran and pulled him close. Then with a quick thought he activated his Kanohi Hau. A force field encircled the Toa and Matoran, protecting them from the angry furnace salamanders. As the Rahi bounced off the shield and became even angrier, Toa Lhikan responded to the Matoran's questioning look. "I can't run fast enough to escape them."

"It's not that, it's . . . why didn't you use your Hau before now?"

"I couldn't use my Mask before because they were too close; some of them would have been trapped in my shield and having them at close range was the last thing I wanted. What did you do to get me out?"

"I shot a Teleportation disk. It was risky, but at least I knew it would get you out of there," the Matoran replied.

Toa Lhikan nodded. "Well, I can't keep this up for long. Have any other life-saving devices in your pack?"

The Matoran's eyes went wide and he nodded, astonished. "Actually, um, I sorta do." He rummaged in his pack and took out the Great Kakama. "Here, use this and we can simply run out of here."

Lhikan looked at the Matoran, surprised at how he just happened to have a Great Kanohi in his pack. Apparently there was more to this Ta-Matoran that met the eye. He was going to ask some questions later, but for the time being Lhikan simply took the Mask. "Alright, get onto my back and hold tight." The Matoran did what he was asked and as soon as he was ready, Toa Lhikan put on the Mask.

At once the shield around them dissipated and the Rahi charged, only to find the figures inside the shield gone. A red and yellow blur sped past the surprised Rahi, and out of the foundry. Slamming the door behind them, the Toa and Matoran breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was fun," Lhikan laughed, taking off the Kakama. "Never used a Mask of Speed before. It made me feel about 2000 years younger! Where did you get it?"

"I made it," the Matoran replied quietly.

"It's very well done," the Toa complimented handing the Matoran back his mask. "What's your name?"

"Vakama."

"Vakama," Lhikan repeated, storing the name in his memory.

"Are you hurt, Toa?"

Lhikan looked down at his welt-covered hands. "It's nothing the doctors can't handle. You?"

Vakama shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Good." There was a long awkward pause. "So, where were you headed, before you came to rescue me?"

"Nuhrii's forge," answered Vakama. "It's not far from here."

"I'll walk you there," the Toa offered. "If you don't mind, that is."

"No, I don't mind."

The two began to walk, the Toa making sure to walk slow enough for the Matoran. "So, I suppose I owe you for saving me back there," he said conversationally. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

The Ta-Matoran looked up, surprise written all over his mask. "Repayment? No, you don't need to repay me. You protect the city for a living. If anything, we Matoran should be repaying you."

"Yes, but you did save my life, like it or not. I'd like to repay you in some way. You sure there's nothing I can do?"

Vakama gazed into the distance, suddenly seeing himself in a forge of his own, a great Mask-Maker, known city-wide. He was respected, his Masks adored, and even Turaga Dume would ask him to do special projects. Toa Lhikan could certainly make this possible, but . . . "No," he said. "No, I was just doing my duty."

Lhikan frowned a little, seeing the Matoran's hidden disappointment. Toa Sicar had told Lhikan that kindness should always be repaid. As they came to the forge Lhikan let Vakama enter first. As he bent down to follow he was surprised to hear an angry voice from inside. "Finally! What took you so long?" Nuhrii asked irately. "I needed those disks! You need to learn the meaning of duty, Vakama! You can't run off every time you get the chance."

"I-I'm sorry, Nuhrii. But, I didn't run off. I was helping—" Vakama started, but was cut off. Lhikan frowned at the Mask-Maker's tone.

"You're supposed to be helping _me_. You're my apprentice, Vakama. Now . . ." Nuhrii trailed off as Toa Lhikan came through the doorway, wearing a pleasant smile.

"Hello, I'm sorry I made Vakama late. He was just helping me with a furnace salamander infestation in a foundry down the street," Lhikan apologized. "I was just escorting him back to make sure he didn't get into trouble."

Nuhrii nodded dumbly, embarrassment written all over his face.

"I also came to tell you your apprentice has great skill. His Great Kakama is amazing and I was wondering if I could request that he make me one."

"Make . . . you . . . a Great Mask?" Nuhrii asked, completely astonished. "But . . . he . . ."

"I expect it by the end of the week. I assume you'll make sure he finishes it on time? You might even want to give him time off from his other duties."

"Um, y-yes, of course."

Lhikan smiled. "Good. I'll see you later then, Vakama."

Vakama nodded, amazed at the transaction that had just taken place. The Toa smiled and left.

When Vakama had finished Lhikan's mask, the Toa made sure to point out to Dume the Matoran's skill. Soon, the whole city was talking about Vakama and his masks. Then, later that month, Vakama, who was working late, was surprised to find himself visited by Toa Lhikan. Lhikan had been 'just passing by' and came to see how his friend was doing. More and more as time went on, the Matoran found Toa Lhikan visiting him, sometimes bringing high level disks, other times just talking. Eventually, the two became well acquainted and soon after that, close friends.

-------------------

Lhikan laughed at the memory. "I cannot tell you how much fun I had using that Mask. I had never used a Mask of Speed before and I loved going that fast." He looked down at the mask his friend was holding. "Say, you wouldn't need that tested, would you? You know, to make sure it works?"

Vakama smiled. "I'm sorry, Toa Lhikan, but Turaga Dume's waiting for this Mask. I need to get it to him before nightfall."

"Yeah, I know," Lhikan said, a little disappointed he wouldn't get a chance to 'test' the mask. Then, he smiled and an idea came to his mind. "Hey Vakama, how about I take you there? I can get you there really fast."

**A/N**: Alright, so that's done. Next up: how Lhikan became a Toa! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took so long to update. This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected. Well, it's up now so enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Me? Own Bionicle? Sadly not. The only thing I own is Toa Sicar and Unawe.

Three: Beginnings

"Hey, Vakama! I came by to . . . say . . ." Lhikan trailed off when he realized the forge he was in was empty. "Oh." He walked into the building, stooping a little to get past the door way. The forge was cluttered, full of packing boxes that had barely been opened. Stepping carefully around the ones on the floor, Lhikan went over to a box placed on a working bench and with one finger, gingerly lifted the lid and peeked inside.

The box was stuffed to the brim with tools of all shapes and sizes. Finding the items uninteresting, Lhikan was about to turn away when he spotted one tool that he recognized. He felt himself smile as he reached in and picked up a small utensil. It consisted of a long handle with a small, sharp pick at the end used to carve details into things such as masks. The Toa turned the instrument in his hands and leaned against the wall, remembering. Looking around to make sure Vakama wasn't there yet, the red Toa sat down, took out a small piece of metal protodermis, and began to work with the tool.

A few minutes later Vakama walked in, awkwardly balancing two large boxes in his arms and mumbling about overpriced movers. Lhikan, surrounded by metal shavings and totally absorbed in his work, didn't notice the Matoran. Unable to see ahead of him, the hapless Ta-Matoran to tripped over the Toa's legs. Vakama gave a small yelp and fell face first, the contents of the boxes scattering across the floor with great noise. Lhikan dropped his work and went over to the groaning Matoran.

"Vakama! Oh, I'm so sorry! You okay?"

The Ta-Matoran looked up with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The Toa reached down and offered Vakama a hand, which he took and Lhikan lifted him to his feet.

"Here I come to congratulate you and I trip you instead," Lhikan said, smiling sheepishly. "Let me help you pick up."

"Thanks," said Vakama, kneeling and righting one of the boxes.

"So, how does it feel to be a Mask Maker?" the Toa asked, picking up a handful of disks and placing them in the container.

Vakama sat back on his knees and sighed. "Well, the moving was a hassle, I'm pretty sure Nuhrii hates my guts right now, and the job is already overwhelming me. I'm fine. What's happening with you?"

Lhikan smiled. "Oh, the usual: fighting bad guys, rounding up the occasional Rahi, and trying to keep my teammates from killing each other. Life's good. But tell me, why do you feel overwhelmed? You haven't even started yet."

"I know, it's just . . . look at this place," the Matoran said, waving his arms around him. "It's huge. And so is the responsibility. I just . . . I'm having doubts as to whether or not I'm ready for this yet. Hey, I don't recognize this, is it yours?" Vakama held out the small piece of protodermis Lhikan had been working on, now adorned with intricate swirls and crosses.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." He took the piece of metal, shrugged at the work, and put it in his pack.

"Did you make it?"

"Yeah, I carved it while I was waiting for you."

"That's really good," the Matoran complimented. "Do you carve for a hobby?"

"Mm, not quite. That used to be my work," the Toa replied, reaching for a stray tool.

"Work? What do you mean?"

Lhikan smiled at Vakama as he dropped the tool into the box. "I did have a life before becoming a Toa, you know. I was a craftsmaker, but my heart was in decorating what I made. But, back to you—you say you're feeling overwhelmed by the job?"

Vakama nodded, seeing Lhikan wanted to change the subject. "Yeah, it just seems —big. All the requirements and expectations, it's staggering. I know that sounds stupid, but . . . oh, I don't know."

"I know what you mean. A new job can seem overwhelming. But you know what? I think I have a story that might help you . . . ."

---------------------

"You're absolutely sure about this, Ihu?" the red Toa asked.

The Ko-Matoran nodded, a slight scowl appearing on his mask. "Yes, Toa Dume, I'm positive. His name's Lhikan and he lives on the island fortress. The stars don't lie."

The Toa of Fire straightened and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes . . . well, if the stars say he's the one, then it must be. Thank you, Ihu. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this. They don't call you the best for nothing."

Turning back to his telescope, Ihu shrugged. "Of course. Now, if you will excuse me, Toa. My apprentice Nuju will be coming soon and I must prepare."

Dume nodded. He had learned not to be offended when the Ko-Matoran acted this way. They were very dedicated to their work and even the presence of a Toa wouldn't keep them from it. The Toa bowed, doubting the Matoran even noticed but went through the gesture anyway, and left for the Coliseum.

Walking down the staircase, Dume pondered what he had just heard. He'd been to the island fortress for training as a new Toa, but after leaving to become Metru Nui's guardian, he'd only returned once. The Turaga of Metru Nui had needed some information delivered and Dume offered to convey the message. While he was there a Frostelus had attacked and almost killed a small, unimpressive Ta-Matoran. Dume had saved him while the other Toa of the island killed off the Rahi. Later, Dume learned the Matoran was a craftsmaker named Lhikan but he only remembered the Matoran because of the strange golden Hau he wore.

It was only yesterday that Dume's Turaga had called him to the Coliseum and told him of a special mission: Dume needed to find a specific Toa to become Metru Nui's next guardian, one that was supposedly destined to become one of the greatest heroes of all time. To find out where this Matoran was located Dume had decided to consult Ko Metru's best scholar, Ihu. Now he needed to prepare a boat and get permission to make a Toa Stone. It was time to find Metru Nui's next hero.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Lhikan, this stone is marvelous. Simply marvelous," the Turaga said, turning the stone over in his hands.

The Ta-Matoran smiled, pride welling up inside of him. But despite of the thrill of praise, the Matoran struggled to keep his eyes open. He was glad his Turaga liked the stone, especially since he had been up all night making sure it would be finished on time. It was a medium-sized replica of the Mata Nui stone, but instead of the usual simple design Lhikan had done an embellished version, full of the intricate swirls and crosses he was known for. The Turaga put the stone on his desk and turned towards the Matoran.

"Thank you very much Lhikan. Now, I can see you're exhausted. Take the day off and get some sleep."

Lhikan smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Turaga." He bowed, the elder nodding his head in return, and the Matoran left the hut.

It was an extremely hot day on the island fortress; the training Toa paused every once in a while to wipe the sweat from their eyes, and some of the Ice and Water Toa did not sparr outside at all. Lhikan leaned on a rail overlooking the main sparring ground, watching as a Fire Toa and Stone Toa fought each other. The red Toa rushed the brown, the Stone Toa using his weapon to block. They stayed that way for a moment, each pushing against the other as the sweat dripped down their masks before they pushed each other off, weapons clashing in the humid afternoon. Lhikan shook his head, feeling sorry for the two Toa. It was times like these he was glad he was just a Matoran.

Leaving the scene of the duel, Lhikan made his way through the busy streets, bowing his head to each passing Toa. Gazing up at the tall, impressive warriors, Lhikan felt a tiny pang of envy, but who didn't? These Toa were fated to see more action and adventure than Lhikan or any other Matoran could even read about. Still, it didn't bother Lhikan as much as it did some others . . . did it?

Lhikan shook his head, getting rid of the unwanted thought. _I need to get some sleep,_ he thought, rubbing his eyes. He turned the corner and felt a smile come over his golden Hau as his hut came into view. Dodging a Matoran with a cart, he crossed the street and opened the door to his home. The hut was small, just enough for a dresser, a table, some chairs, and a bed, and at the moment, the bed was the most inviting thing Lhikan had ever seen. He closed the door, walked across the small room in a daze, and fell on his bed, ready to sleep the day away. His mind was just at the point where you realize you're falling asleep, when Lhikan heard the door open.

Lhikan didn't move, hoping to Mata Nui who ever it would think he was asleep and would go away. Instead he heard foot steps come over to his bed and a pair of hands grab him and start to shake.

"Lhikan. Lhikan, you have to get up. Lhikan!"

"Unawe, please, just leave me to sleep. I was up all night and then some. Is this _extremely_ important?"

The Po-Matoran sat himself on the edge of his friend's bed. "Well, I suppose it depends on what you consider as important. _I_ would say yes."

Lhikan opened his eyes halfway, just enough to see his friend's tan Miru. "Is the fortress in danger?"

"No," the carver admitted, "but you might want to hear this anyway. There's a strange Toa here asking for you."

"Strange?"

"Well, I've never seen him before."

The Ta-Matoran's eyes opened all the way and Lhikan sat up. "What? Asking for _me_? Why? What does he want?"

His friend shrugged. "Something about a gift. He's refusing to say anymore to anyone until he talks to you. Toa Sicar is talking to him right now but he's not getting far." Unawe smiled. "Actually, it's kinda funny. Toa Sicar and the other Fire Toa are having a face-off. Each of them is trying to be polite, but it's obvious they hate each other's guts!"

Lhikan frowned despite the amusing image, slowly stood up, and started to pace. "This other Toa, what's his name and where does he come from?"

"Cautious aren't you? Well, the Toa said his name's Toa Dume and he's from the city of Metru Nui. He also said," Unawe cleared his through and put a mock expression of seriousness on his face, "'I have a bestowal that Lhikan must receive.' In those exact words. Then of course Toa Sicar asked why he couldn't just leave the package for you to get later, then they starting arguing—"

"Did he say what kind of gift?" Lhikan interrupted, still pacing the length of his hut.

"No. Just a gift. Anyway, the Turaga saw what was happening and sent me to get you. Are you going to come?"

The pacing stopped. All the possibilities, all the risks and potential came raining down on Lhikan as he realized this might be one of the most important decisions in his life. He was on the verge of saying 'no' when he felt something, something that was partly in his mind and partly in his heart stone. And he knew. People said that the Great Spirit conveyed his messages in many ways but that they were always recognizable. "I'll go."

Unawe nodded. "Alright then. I'll show you the way."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There they are. Hey, good luck."

"Wait! You're not coming?" Lhikan asked, suddenly nervous at the sight of the strange Toa.

Unawe shook his head. "Not a chance. Listen, I'm not trying to abandon you or anything but I have work to do. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe." Lhikan flinched at the whispered last word. As his friend disappeared around the corner the Ta-Matoran peeked out at the two Toa.

"Look, Toa . . . Dume," Toa Sicar was saying, crossing his arms. "It just makes more sense for you to leave the package and we'll give it to Lhikan, yeah? I can assure you, we're all honest folk here. No one's going to steal it or even look through it."

"I am getting tired of this argument," replied Toa Dume wearily. "I have told you before; I can't leave without talking to Lhikan. I only require several minutes with him. I'm sure you can spare him for that amount of time."

Lhikan looked up at the two Toa uneasily. The strange Toa was a Fire Toa as Unawe had said, his element made clear by his red armor. But that's where the similarities ended. Toa Dume was taller than Lhikan's protector and more imposing. It seemed to Lhikan Toa Dume would be one who could rule a whole island easily while Toa Sicar needed to work his leadership one-on-one. Dume's mask seemed one that didn't smile easily while Sicar's looked odd without one. The stranger's armor was a different style, more curving with dark purple bands adorning it. Where Toa Sicar had a Mask of Strength Dume had a Mask of Regeneration. But both masks had the same expression on them: impatience and annoyance.

"If you let me be present when you talk, then yes. But I can't leave you alone with him, you understand."

Dume narrowed his eyes, a scowl covering his features. "I guarantee I will not harm him. In fact, I saved his life once."

A brief flicker of surprise passed through Sicar's features. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you ask Lhikan?"

Lhikan jumped as the tall Toa turned his gaze towards him. Feeling a little foolish, the Ta-Matoran came out into the open, acutely aware of the two Toa's intense gazes.

"Lhikan, is it true? Did he save your life?" Sicar asked.

The Matoran frowned, searching his mind for any recognition of the Toa and was about to shake his head no when he remembered. "He did! It was when the Frostelus attacked a few years ago. He saved me from being crushed."

"So, you would feel safe talking to him alone?"

Lhikan looked over the imperial Toa and met his eyes. The Matoran looked for any hint of malice or any hint as to what the Toa wanted with a steady gaze. He found a quick look of surprise pass through the Toa's eyes then approval. It was then Lhikan knew he was being evaluated too. Lhikan smiled slightly then nodded. "Yes."

Toa Sicar studied him for a moment before turning back to Dume. "Well, if Lhikan says you're trustworthy, then I believe him. But if I hear anything suspicious I come crashing in."

"I swear to you, Lhikan will not be harmed, on my honor as a Toa," Dume replied.

The Fire Toa looked at each other with a something akin to a glare and then broke apart. Without looking back, Sicar said, "You two can talk in my hut; no one will disturb you there. Lhikan, you know where it is, yeah? I'll be just around the corner talking to the Turaga."

Lhikan watched him go then turned in the opposite direction and said to Dume, "This way, Toa." He walked down the street, carefully not looking back but hearing the Toa's footsteps behind him. A few passing Matoran paused and stared but Lhikan ignored them. When they reached Toa Sicar's hut he motioned for the Toa to enter and followed him in, shutting the door behind him.

"Toa Sicar seems like a good protector," Dume commented once it was closed, looking at his surroundings.

"He is," Lhikan said. "One of the best Toa we have."

"Mm. You know him well?"

"No, not really."

"But you would feel comfortable in asking him for a favor?"

"Well . . . it would depend on the favor, but yes, I suppose so.

Dume nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Well then. I'm sorry for disturbing you, Lhikan, and causing such a fuss. But this really is urgent." He reached behind him and started to rummage through his pack.

"Yes, so I gathered," Lhikan said slowly, watching intently as Dume pulled out a small package. "Is there something you want from me, Toa Dume?"

The Toa met his eyes and shook his head. "No, it is I who has something for you. Here." He held out the package and Lhikan took it. "I assume you have heard of a Toa Stone before?"

Lhikan shook his head, turning the package over in his hands. "No, I don't think so." He heard Dume sigh softly.

"A Toa Stone is a rock which holds the elemental energies of a Toa for the use of passing them on to a Matoran. Any stone will suffice and only a little energy is needed for the transformation."

"Transformation?" Lhikan asked, his tired brain trying to keep up.

"Transformation from Matoran into a hero. It has the power to turn you into a Toa."

Silence.

"So, y-you want me to deliver this to some one?" Lhikan asked hopefully, holding the stone as if it were liable to explode at any moment.

Dume narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head.

Lhikan gulped and looked down at the stone. "Yeah, didn't think so. Listen, Toa Dume. I think you're making a mistake. This can't be for me."

"Unless you know someone else named Lhikan on this island, that stone is meant for you. The stars have declared it. Have you ever wondered why you have a mask like that? That strange golden Hau. It's a sign, Lhikan. You're destined to become something great."

"You can't be serious about this."

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Indeed, it did not. "I assume you have a Toa Suva here?" Dume continued, ignoring the overwhelmed look on the Matoran's face.

"Yes, but only the Toa can go—"

"Have your friend Toa Sicar take you there. In fact, I would like to have a word with him before I leave."

"Wait, you're leaving? Just like that?"

Dume looked down. "Yes. My duty was to deliver you that stone, not to train you." He opened the door and left the alarmed Matoran behind.

Lhikan stood for a moment, still holding the Toa Stone like some dangerous Rahi before taking off after the tall Toa. "Wait! But, what do I do with the Stone?"

"Toa Sicar will tell you."

"Tell him what?" Sicar asked, rounding the corner just as the other two turned.

"I'm going back to Metru Nui now, Toa Sicar, and I'm leaving you in charge of Lhikan and his . . . package. Take good care of them," Dume said shortly, turning towards the docks without a further look in their direction.

"That is one odd Toa," Sicar murmured. "Rather sour, yeah? But I probably shouldn't say that; I wasn't too nice to him." The Toa turned to look down at the Matoran with a smile that turned into friendly curiosity. "What did he give you?"

Without taking his eyes off the disappearing Dume, Lhikan held out the Stone for Sicar to see.

The Toa's eyes widened and he leaned down to get a better look. "Is that . . .?"

"A Toa Stone." Lhikan took a deep breath. "I'm to become a Toa. The stars have proclaimed it." He laughed a little at himself.

"Overwhelming, yeah?" Sicar asked, smiling. The Toa straightened and put his hand on Lhikan's shoulder, gently leading him to the Turaga's house. "You'll be fine. It seems big now, but it's not so bad once you start."

"_Seems_ big? Toa Sicar, it's . . . I mean, a Toa! I . . . I can't!"

"Toa Dume obviously thought you could. And if I'm any judge of character, I'd say you'd be great, too. Here, do something for me, yeah?"

Lhikan nodded.

"Open that package, look at the Stone, and tell me how you feel."

Doing as he was told, Lhikan unwrapped the Stone and gasped as red light radiated from the rock, bathing his golden mask. He looked deep into the Stone's center and saw the light that shone there and felt . . . "I feel peaceful," he said out loud. "Like . . . everything's right."

Sicar smiled. "Exactly. Now, still feel overwhelmed?"

"Yes."

The Toa laughed. "Good. That's how it's supposed to be."

---------------------

"You see, Vakama. You're supposed to feel overwhelmed; it's a good thing. It shows that you understand the importance of your job. The trick is not to be scared. Got it?"

Vakama nodded and smiled. "Yes. I get it now."

"Good. Now, I have to go. Turaga Dume wanted me and Tuyet to check out some area in Ga Metru that had suspicious activities going on. I'll see you later, Vakama."

"Alright. Thank you for the story. It helps."

"You're welcome."

The Matoran watched the Fire Toa walk towards the exit, trying to imagine how he would have looked as Matoran. He gave up and instead called to his friend, "Hey, Lhikan?"

Lhikan turned. "Yes?"

"Was Dume any different as Toa?"

Lhikan tapped his golden mask thoughtfully for a moment before replying. "Well, he was taller." They both smiled for a moment before Lhikan said, "Listen, I really have to go. Congratulations again, Vakama."

**A/N: **So, what did you think? As always, I'd love to hear from you. Contact me by pushing that little purple button in the corner and leave me a review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: Alright, this chapter is a bit grim. It deals with the Frostelus attack on Lhikan's home island and there is some death. Ye be warned. Other than that, a special thanks to Saya Moonshadow for letting me use her character.

**Disclaimer:** I understand that Bionicle does not belong to me and probably never will. Toa Natay belongs to Saya Moonshadow. However, Toa Sicar is mine.

Four: Running

Toa Vakama sat on the front of the ship, sculpting the final touches on the mask he was making. It was by far his greatest accomplishment, making the Mask of Time, and he should have been celebrating his achievement. But he couldn't even break a smile. How could he when he had failed all of Metru Nui? Even as he sat there, Makuta was draining energy from the city and the Matoran were all asleep underground. The Toa Metru had been forced to take only six Matoran in spheres and run in hopes of finding someplace safe. They didn't even know where they were going.

"Nuju's right," Vakama muttered, setting aside the mask to cool. "We're doomed."

"I believe his words were 'There's a possibility of failing,'" someone said from behind. Vakama turned to find Turaga Lhikan walking towards him.

"Turaga Lhikan," Vakama greeted.

"Mind if I join you?" the Turaga asked.

Vakama smiled. "Please, do."

Lhikan eased himself down beside the Toa. "So, why do you think we're doomed?"

The Fire Toa shrugged. "Well . . ."

"Well . . . ?"

"Well, Metru Nui is being destroyed, for one," the young Toa started. "Its heart is in an eternal slumber, and we're running away. I don't see how we're going to win."

"You've lost faith."

"We weren't very good Toa," Vakama said miserably. "I especially wasn't."

"Vakama, I want you to listen to me very carefully." Vakama turned to look at the Turaga. "Being a hero isn't about wining every battle you fight. It's not even about fighting. Sometimes, the best heroes have to run."

"_You_ never ran from anything," Vakama pointed out.

"Wrong. I've run many times, Vakama. I ran from Nidhiki and Krekka. I've run away from Dark Hunters, I've run from the Morbuzahk more times than I can count, I've even run away from my duties every once in a while."

"But . . . I don't understand. Running doesn't seem like something you'd do."

Lhikan looked out upon the choppy waters of the Silver Sea. "Sometimes running is the best thing to do. I'd probably be dead right now if I hadn't run from some of my enemies. You're right, I don't like to run, but sometimes . . ." He drifted off, the bobbing of the Vahki transport reminding him of something that happened a very long time ago. "Sometimes, you have to. Sometimes, you need to run, to continue the legacy of a friend, to continue fighting for what you believe in," he finished. "Vakama, I'm going to tell you a story, one that I've never told anyone else. Listen carefully . . . ."

---------------------------

Lhikan called upon his elemental power, careful not to call too much. He was running low and fire was in high demand. It was strange how the Frostelus decided to attack when there were extremely few Fire Toa on the island; it was almost like they planned it that way. A small but very hot fire ball appeared between Lhikan's palms. Twisting his hands, the ball began to spin and he threw it, sending the missile directly through the hand of a Frostelus. The Rahi screamed as the fire cut through its extremity like butter. The sound was piercing as the Rahi stumbled back and away from the brown Toa it was about to crush. Lhikan ran up to the Toa and patted him on the back.

"You okay?" Lhikan asked over the noise of battle.

The young Stone Toa wiped the sweat out of his eyes, nodded a little shakily, and smiled at the Fire Toa. "Yes. Thank you."

Lhikan smiled. "No problem." Giving the brown Toa one more pat, Lhikan ran on to the next Toa in need. This time he took out his swords, put them together, and threw them. They cut across an arm of the Frostelus and gave the Water Toa enough time to shove her spear into the Rahi's chest, effectively killing the beast. Catching his swords, Lhikan spotted Toa Sicar.

"Sicar!" he yelled, jumping over bodies and rocks to reach his friend. "We can't hold up much longer! We need to retreat!"

"We can't!" Sicar shouted back, wrenching his large mace out of a Frostelus' side. "They've destroyed all the boats! We're stuck here!"

"What?" asked Lhikan, reaching his mentor. "All of them?"

"They're smart, yeah?" Sicar asked bitterly. "They knew they could trap us here, so they did. Lhikan, down!" He jumped into a pit in the ground pulling the young Fire Toa with him. Several Rhotuka spinners flew overhead, each one exploding where it hit a few bios away. The two Fire Toa crouched in the pit for a moment catching their breaths. "Rookie," Sicar scolded, smiling. "I thought I taught you to dodge oncoming missiles."

"I was about to." He grimaced at a pain in his leg and looked down. One of the Rhotuka spinners had grazed his calf, burning away a good part of the flesh.

Sicar had dropped his weapon and was already pulling out gauze out of his first aid kit. "That doesn't look good. How bad does it hurt?"

"Not enough to keep me out of the fight," Lhikan assured, lying through his teeth.

"Kilas is dead," Sicar mentioned, starting to wrap the gauze. "It's just you and me now."

"Two Fire Toa aren't enough to stop the Frostelus," Lhikan said. "What are we going to do?"

Sicar finished wrapping and sat there thinking for a moment, and then seemed to nod at himself. "Come with me." He put away the first aid kit and his mace, grabbed the young Toa's arm, and jumped out of the hole, pulling a limping Lhikan behind him. Dodging blasts of ice and other elements, and swerving around bodies they made their way to the docks. There, Sicar let go of Lhikan, jumped down into the rocks along the shore, and began searching for something.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for this." The older Toa pulled out a small wooden boat, barely big enough for a Toa. "It's the last boat. It was protected from the Frostelus by the rocks. I want you to get in and go."

"What?" Lhikan asked, hardly believing his ears. "Leave the fight? Never!"

"Two Skakdi stole something very important just before the Frostelus attacked, a tablet called the Makoki Stone. I need you to find it and hide it somewhere safe," Sicar replied, pushing the boat into the water. "Now hurry before the Frostelus find us here and attack."

"What's the stone do?"

"I don't know. Maybe it doesn't do anything. All I know is a lot of Toa gave up their lives protecting that Stone."

"You're just saying that. You want me to run because you don't believe you stand a chance against the Frostelus!"

Sicar glanced up but didn't say anything, instead finding two oars and putting them in the wooden vessel.

"You've given up. You think the fortress is doomed. Sicar, you have to let me stay!"

"You can't fight any more. You're hurt and need medical care we can't provide."

"It-it's just a flesh wound! I can still fight."

"No you can't, you can barely walk. Even if you could I wouldn't let you. You have great potential and you can't waste it by dying here."

"Sicar, I can't run—"

Sicar pulled out his mace. "Look, we don't have time to argue about this. Do I have to use this on you? I'll knock you out if I have too."

"I won't leave you! I'm not abandoning my duty just because—"

The older Fire Toa pressed his forehead against his weapon as Lhikan expressed his outrage. "Listen to me, Lhikan. Just listen!" he said through gritted teeth.

Lhikan quieted down.

"I don't like this any more than you do. But everything and everyone has a time to die, yeah? No, don't speak, listen. Every city must crumble, every civilization end, and every hero must fall. Most times you can pick yourself up. Often you pick up the pieces and move on. But sometimes you just have to accept that it's time." Sicar climbed back onto the dock and pointed to the boat. "Get in."

"But why don't you come with me?" Lhikan protested

Sicar smiled. "The boat's too small. Besides, I have a duty to this island; I can't leave while it's in danger. But you don't have to stay. This battle is the fortress' downfall, but not yours. You need to keep on going, for me and everyone else here, yeah? Promise me."

"No, I won't promise! There's still a chance we can defeat them— "

The older Toa grabbed Lhikan's shoulders. "Promise me!" Sicar yelled with surprising force. "Promise me you'll live, Lhikan!"

Lhikan saw the desperation in Sicar's eyes and lowered his own. "I-I promise," he choked.

"Good," he sighed, letting one of his hands drop. Lhikan gazed at the remaining hand on his shoulder. He looked up as Sicar spoke again. "You're going to be a great Toa someday Lhikan. Remember me, yeah?"

"Yeah," Lhikan mumbled, getting an awful feeling in his stomach. "Good luck, Sicar . . . and Mata Nui protect you."

Sicar smiled gently. "Don't worry about me. Just watch out for yourself, yeah?" He gently pushed Lhikan into the boat.

Lhikan stumbled down and once in the wooden vessel he turned back to his mentor. "I'll come back. I'll get help and I'll come back, Sicar! Just hold out till then!"

"I'm sure you will. Just remember what I've taught you. Now, go. Mata Nui protect you, Lhikan." Activating his Mask of Strength, Sicar pushed the boat into the water, then shoved as hard as he could, the force driving the vessel some bios away before Lhikan even knew it had happened.

"Sicar! SICAR!!"

Sicar flashed Lhikan a grin, raised his hand in farewell, and than ran back into the battle, smashing the leg of a Frostelus with his mace as he passed it.

Lhikan watched as the force of his mentor's push took him further and further from the island, the fortress becoming disappearing into the distance.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Lhikan opened his eyes to find a bright blue sky looking down upon him. He sighed and sat up, careful not to rock the boat he was in too much. Glancing out at the ocean he found still no sign of land, or other ships, or even birds, there was no sign of life anywhere. Just . . . water. Lots and lots of sea water.

He lay back down on the blankets that had been placed on the bottom of the boat. Much to his disgust they were still damp from last nights storm. It had only been about a day and he was already feeling as if he had been alone for years. _'Now, come on Lhikan,' _he thought to himself. _'You have to keep going. You have to keep moving for Sicar. You need to get help.'_ He sat up again and picked up the oars and put them in the water. Having no sense of natural direction he picked a random spot on the horizon and started to move the boat towards it. With each stroke and splash of the oars he thought to himself, _'Row, run, row, run, row, run,' _over and over again. That was all there was to him now.

Some time later he stopped for a bit and rubbed his aching chest. He licked his dry lips and swallowed thirstily, realizing how long he had been without water. _Now would be a great time to be a Water Toa,_ he thought. Sighing, he reached out to grab the oars when his right hand knocked the paddle into the water. Lhikan gasped and made a dive for it but only succeeded in knocking it further away. "No!" He watched as the oar drifted further towards the horizon feeling as if Mata Nui were against him. Picking up the other oar, he almost threw that into the water as well but remembered what Sicar had said about anger. Instead, he scanned the area again, thinking if he was extremely lucky, he might close to land.

What he saw wasn't land but was something just as welcome. Lhikan laughed with relief as he carefully stood up and waved at the distant boat. "HEY! OVER HERE!" he shouted, waving wildly. Worrying they hadn't seen him, Lhikan sent up colored streaks of fire. Slowly the boat turned and made its way over to the stranded Fire Toa. The large, metal boat pulled up beside him. An orange and yellow Toa of Power Scream, probably not much younger than himself, came and leaned over the side. "Hey. Need a lift?" she asked.

"Y-yes. Please."

"Alright then. Come aboard." She held his hand out to him and the Fire Toa took it, allowing her to haul him up on board. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until then. "The name's Natay," the Toa introduced. "You?"

"Lhikan," he said finding his voice. "Listen, I don't want to sound rude but my island is being attacked and I was sent to get help. So if you could drop me off at the nearest island with Toa, I'd much appreciate it."

"Yeah, of course. I just came from an island with a good group of Toa. I'm sure they'll agree to help and I'll come along too. What island is being attacked?"

"The island fortress."

The Power Scream Toa eyes widened. "Wait, _the_ island fortress? The one with the Toa academy?"

Lhikan nodded. "You've heard of it then."

"Yeah I've heard of it. I trained there! Who's attacking it?"

"Frostelus, a whole bunch of them. We were outnumbered and caught off guard."

Natay growled. "Stupid Rahi. Alright then, Lhikan, I'll tell you what we're going to do," she said, already running to the sail and releasing it. The cloth snapping in the wind, she turned towards the steering wheel. "We're gonna make a quick run to that island I told you about, drag the Toa on board, leave a message for the Turaga to get more Toa, and head to the fortress. With the wind being what it is . . . ." Natay scribbled some calculations on a piece of paper then looked up to Lhikan again. "We should be teaching those Rahi a lesson in no time."

Lhikan watched in awe and gratitude as Natay ran about the deck, pulling here, tying something there, and finally taking the steering wheel and spinning it around. The Fire Toa stumbled a bit as the boat sharply turned to face the opposite direction. "Anything I can do to help?"

Natay shook her head, her gaze still steady on the sea ahead of her. "Nope, not right now. Besides, you don't look too good. Are you hurt?"

"Not badly," Lhikan said, mentally checking over himself. "It looks worse than it is." He self-consciously rubbed some of the dried blood off his armor.

"Mhm," Natay said, looking dubiously down at his bandaged leg. "Want me to take a look at your leg? I'm no medic, but I know first aid."

"I'm fine," Lhikan insisted, turning his body a little so the white gauze was out of sight. "Really."

"Okay then. There's food and water down below deck. There's a bunk bed there too. Get some rest and I'll wake you up when we reach the island with the Toa, okay?"

Lhikan nodded. "Thank you, Natay. I owe you a great deal."

"Don't worry about it," she said, glancing down at him with a smile. "I would have gone as soon as I'd heard anyway. Now go below: captain's orders."

The Fire Toa saluted and stumbled below deck. He blinked against the darkness, hobbled over to the water container, and guzzled thirstily. Gasping for air, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then gazed around for the bed. Finding it, he walked over and lay down, gazing up at the ceiling and closing his eyes. "Help's coming, Sicar," he whispered. "I'm coming."

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Toa Natay had returned to the island only hours after leaving and explained that the famous island fortress was under attack, all the Toa on the island immediately prepared to go help. In less than an hour they were sailing towards Toa Lhikan's home, prepared for battle.

The blue Turaga watched worriedly as the young Fire Toa limped across the room and limped back again. She had insisted on coming too and seeing to Toa Lhikan's leg before it got infected. She had changed the bandage, had an Ice Toa to make cold compresses, and dabbed some antibiotic ointment on the blisters. Everything had gone well until she had told the Fire Toa that he would have to stay on the boat. The argument had been long and might have lasted the whole trip if Toa Natay had not interrupted and informed Lhikan that while he was on _her_ ship he would take _her_ orders and she was _ordering_ him to stay on board. They had come to an agreement: Toa Lhikan would stay on board if Natay would specifically look for a Fire Toa with a mace named Toa Sicar.

They had reached the island fortress about half an hour ago and Toa Lhikan hadn't paused in his pacing since.

"Please, Toa Lhikan, stop that walking. It would be best if you lie down and let your leg heal," the Turaga pleaded.

"Sit down?" Lhikan asked incredulously. "My friends could be out there dying right now! Forgive me if I'm a little anxious."

"Pacing won't help them. The best thing that you can do is rest."

Lhikan sighed, frustrated, sat down on a bed, and jumped right back up and continued to walk the length of the small room. A few minutes later the door to the cabin opened and Lhikan's head shot up. He rushed over to the steps as Natay came down, slightly dirty and pale.

"I'll take my leave now," the Turaga said, slipping past the two Toa as Natay sat down on the bed and motioned for Lhikan to do the same.

"Well?" he asked, sitting. "Any news of Sicar?"

Natay tapped her fingers on the side of the bed and said, "I . . . it's hard to . . . It's hard to find specific people out there. The bodies . . . I mean, there's not a lot left. The fortress is completely in ruins, barely a wall standing. We . . . haven't found any survivors."

Lhikan felt his heart freeze.

"The good news is the Frostelus didn't survive either. They beat 'em good."

"Yes, but I want to know if you found proof Sicar's . . . if he escaped or . . ."

The orange and yellow Toa fidgeted for a moment, and then looked at Lhikan. "I was able to find this," she said quietly, pulling out a large mace. "I'm sorry."

Lhikan took the mace with shaking hands. He recognized it; he'd recognize it from a hundred bios away. His thumb traced over the ordinate flames carved into the blades. "We met because of this mace," Lhikan said casually. "I was commissioned to carve the fire on the blade. He was so impressed with the work he came to congratulate me." He scrapped off some blood, allowing the flames to be more prominent and continued talking with a shaking voice. "When I turned into a Toa he was the first to congratulate me and immediately offered to be my personal mentor. He—he was hard to train with, but that's what made him great. He knew what your limits were and didn't allow you to slack. But he was also kind and funny and . . . ." Lhikan gave a sobbing laugh. "And he saved me. He knew . . . he sent me out in that boat . . ."

"Look, we're still searching under rubble and such. Just because we haven't found anybody yet doesn't mean—"

The Fire Toa shook his head, taking a deep breath and composing himself. "N-no. I don't think so. He—" Lhikan gulped a sob. "He knew it was his time. I just wish . . . Mata Nui, I was so stupid! What was I thinking, letting him stay? He should have gone, not me!"

"Now, cut that out!" Natay admonished. "From what you say, he did that to save your life. Is griping about it any way to repay him?"

Slowly, Lhikan shook his head.

"Right. Now, I suggest you stop thinking of it as running. You went for help, not fleeing because you were a coward. You did what was necessary and more importantly, what was right." She stood up. "Now, I have to go back out there. The Turaga wants you to rest so I'm ordering you to lie down and try to sleep."

"I want to help; can't I come and search with you?"

Natay looked over the tearful Toa, knowing how much turmoil he was in. "Tomorrow." She walked over to the stairs. Turning back, she added. "I really am sorry. He'll be remembered." She then jogged up the stairs and out onto the deck, closing the door behind her.

"Yes, he will be remembered."

---------------------------

"You see, Vakama, you're not running away. You're simply moving on, doing what's right. So Metru Nui falls. Remember Vakama, Metru Nui is just a city: a bunch of buildings placed strategically on a piece of earth. The important thing is that the heart of Metru Nui lives on. Save the Matoran's lives and nothing else matters."

Vakama sat stone still, the Mask of Time cooling beside him. He finally managed to say, "Lhikan, I'm so sorry. I had no idea . . ."

Lhikan smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "It was years ago and you have nothing to be sorry for. Toa Sicar died bravely protecting his home and his Matoran, and will be remembered as a great hero. That's the best thing a Toa can hope for. Best now to focus on the present."

Nodding, Vakama looked out towards the Great Barrier looming in front of them. "Yes. We're still stuck with the problem that we have no idea where we're . . . go . . . ing . . ." The Fire Toa trailed off as something happened in his mind. His surroundings dulled and Lhikan watched intently as Vakama stared off at something no one else could see. After a few moments, just when Lhikan was about ready to call for help, Vakama blinked. "Follow the light," he said softly.

"What?"

"Our destiny lies beyond the Great Barrier," the Toa said confidently. "I'm sure of it."

Lhikan smiled. "There, see? We're no longer running. I'll go tell the driver our destination."

**A/N**: Once again, a big thanks to Saya Moonshadow for allowing me to use Natay. This is the last chapter I plan on doing for this story. I'm turning my attention to a bigger project so I'll finish this up with an epilogue unless I am struck with inspiration in the next two days. In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think of this chapter. Review please!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**: Alright, now I know I said that the previous chapter was the last one. Well . . . plans changed. Tera Hunter asked me to write about when Toa Lhikan was taken by the Dark Hunters and I found a quote on biosector01 that really inspired me. (It's at the top of the 'Ice Bats' article in case anyone is curious.) The story was just begging to be written so I wrote it!

**Disclaimer**: Bionicle is not mine. It all belongs to LEGO.

Five: Caution

Lhikan darted around the corner into a dark alleyway and leaned against the wall, panting for air. With the back of his hand, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, kneeled behind some empty storage containers, and waited. Soon enough, a set of metallic clicking and a set of heavy footsteps could be heard from the main street heading towards the hidden Toa. A green spider-like creature and a white and blue hulk came into view.

"I, uh, I don't see him, Nidhiki," the white and blue one said.

"Of course you wouldn't, you idiot, he'd be hiding," the green one replied in a grating voice, sounding rather annoyed. Lhikan didn't blame him. If his partner was as stupid as Krekka, he'd be irritated as well.

"Uh, so . . . how are we going to find him?" Krekka asked.

Nidhiki hit himself over the head with one of his pinchers. "We _look_, Krekka. We look for him. He can't be far; we were right on his heels. The fool's probably hiding in one of these alleys. You head left and start looking over there. I'll start here and head right."

Krekka held up his hands before his face and made two 'L's with his thumbs and forefingers. The insectoid rolled his eyes as the blue as the white figure took two hesitant steps to the left, and then started walking towards the right.

"Left is _that_ way," Nidhiki said, pointing in the correct direction.

"Oh . . ." said the Dark Hunter sheepishly. He walked to the closest alleyway and yelled, "Hey, Toa! You in here?"

Toa Lhikan smirked as the green Hunter closed his eyes and tried to contain his anger. "The idiot. Wouldn't know to swim if you dumped him in the ocean full of Takea sharks," Nidhiki mumbled. The Dark Hunter sighed and looked around the dark alley in which Lhikan was hiding.

The red Toa held his breath, pressing himself as close to the containers as he could, hiding in the shadow right under the Hunter's nose. If Nidhiki so much as looked down he would spot the Toa, but Lhikan was counting on Nidhiki's impatience to keep him safe, and soon enough, Nidhiki moved on to the next alley. Lhikan let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't leave yet, but he could relax a bit. It would be a while before the two Dark Hunters were satisfied he wasn't there. Lhikan sat down and put his back to the wall, stretching his legs out in front of him. He tilted his head back and just breathed for a bit. The two Hunters had been chasing him for hours from one Metru to the next. Each time they came a little closer to catching the Fire Toa. The next time . . . well, Lhikan would deal with that when the time came.

_I'm getting old_, he thought with a smile. _I can't even take on two Dark Hunters by myself anymore. But it's more than that, isn't it?_ Lhikan thought back to a time when his old home was being attacked and remembered the words of a friend: everything and everyone has a time to end and when that time comes you just have to accept your destiny. Soon afterwards, Toa Sicar, the one who had told him that, had died in battle. Lhikan sighed heavily. Now he understood what Sicar had meant. _Destiny . . . It's coming and fast,_ he thought. Cautiously, he peeked over the boxes and saw the two Hunters still searching for him. _I'm taking the wrong approach to this; it's not the time for slow and cautious._

Nidhiki spun around as a flash of red and gold leaving an alleyway caught his eye. He growled as the form of Lhikan flew into the sky. "Krekka!" the insectoid called, going into flight mode. "He's on the move!"

Meanwhile, Vakama, in his forge, flinched and backed away from his work table as the mask he was working on exploded. He groaned and took off his work glasses, tossing them to the floor for the droid to pick up. This was the seventh time this had happened. He resisted the urge to throw the remains of the broken mask on the floor, for he remembered what Toa Lhikan had once told him: it's better not to take out your anger in a violent way. Instead he simply discarded the scraps to the ever-growing pile of broken masks on the floor and got ready to try again.

"Making great masks, Vakama?"

The mask maker turned around at the sound of his friend's voice. "Toa Lhikan!" he greeted, smiling. "Um, not yet, but with the right disk—" but he stopped at the look on Lhikan's mask. "What's wrong?"

"Listen to me, Vakama. Time is short," Lhikan said gravely, kneeling down to be eye level with his friend. "The city needs your help."

"_My_ help?" the Matoran asked, confused.

"Matoran are vanishing, deceit lurks in the shadows of Metru Nui," the Toa said, taking out the package holding the Toa Stone and holding it out to Vakama. "I need you to trust me, to have faith in my decisions. You must—" Lhikan stopped as a familiar metallic clicking sound filled the forge, followed by a snicker. The Toa wasted no more time and practically shoved the Toa Stone into Vakama's hands. "Keep it hidden and be cautious in who you trust. Not everything is as it seems," he said hurriedly. Vakama nodded and took the package, understanding this wasn't the time to ask questions.

Toa Lhikan stood and looked around for Nidhiki, ready to pull out his magma swords as soon as he knew were his enemy was. But it was Nidhiki himself who gave away his position as he jumped out of a pile of masks, scattering the Kanohi in all directions. Lhikan hoped Vakama would have enough sense to stay out of the way as he focused all his attention on the Dark Hunter.

"This time, your farewell will be forever, _brother_," Nidhiki sneered.

"You lost the right to call me brother long ago," Lhikan answered, slowly backing away. "And is that really the best line you could come up with? You're starting to sound like some child's villain, Nidhiki."

The green figure growled and shot a series of energy webs at the Fire Toa who nimbly dodged the attacks. Then a great crashing sound came from above.

"Look out!" Vakama shouted.

Lhikan spun around to find Krekka picking himself off the floor. "It's the end of the light, Toa," the brute said.

The Toa said nothing in return but took out his swords, ready to fight. Laughing, the hulk began to move forward towards the Fire Toa. As far as strength went, Lhikan was no match, but fortunately, Krekka wasn't very fast. Lhikan ran up the stairs that led to the second floor of the forge. "This way, Krekka!" he called, determined to lead the Hunters away from Vakama. At the top of the stairs Lhikan turned to face his adversary, called upon his elemental energies, and began to throw fire balls at the oncoming Hunter. However, the Hunter had endurance as well as strength and kept on coming despite the numerous burns. Lhikan was forced to back away as Krekka reached the top. "Aw, is the little Toa running away?" Krekka asked. He laughed as Lhikan gave no answer and the Hunter started to fire disks from the disk launcher on his shoulder. Lhikan dodged the first two, then jumped up and swung up onto a protruding beam. Jumping down to avoid yet another disk, he landed cat-like, took out his swords, and threw them at the brute.

Krekka ducked and the swords flew over him and then began to spin back to Lhikan. "Hah! Missed!" gloated the Hunter. But Krekka failed to notice that the swords had cut a rope that had held a suspended weight until Lhikan drew it to his attention.

"Hey Krekka, heads up!" The Hunter looked up in time to see the weight crash down on his head. The Toa smiled, caught his swords, and straightened, satisfied that Krekka was out of the fight for a little while at least. He then turned to see what Nidhiki was up to. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

"Oh, brother!" Nidhiki called, tauntingly. He was dangling Vakama right above a vat of molten protodermis with a very loose grip on the Matoran. A thousand plans rushed through the Toa's head, all ending with Vakama being dropped to his doom . . . except one.

"Nidhiki! Don't! Please, don't do this!" Lhikan called.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't," challenged the insectoid.

"I'll give myself up. That reason good enough?"

"No!" Vakama shouted. "Don't do it, Toa Lhikan! I—I'm not worth it!"

_Trust me, Vakama. Have faith in my decisions._

The Dark Hunter smirked. "It will do. Drop your swords, Lhikan," he said, ignoring the Matoran. The Toa scowled, but did as he was told. "Good, now, hands behind your back." Hesitantly, Lhikan obeyed, his gaze never leaving the dangling Matoran. He heard Krekka come behind him, but did nothing as the Hunter bound his hands with energy webs.

"Now let him go," Lhikan said.

Nidhiki smiled. "With pleasure." And he dropped Vakama.

At the very same moment Lhikan kicked his swords towards the falling Matoran, praying with all his might that he had timed it right. Time slowed as Vakama fell, yelling, and the flight board sped in his direction. For a terrifying moment Lhikan thought he had got it wrong, and then he saw Vakama land on the board and fly off into an air vent. Lhikan smiled and laughed with relief as Vakama flew towards freedom. "Thank you," he said.

The green Dark Hunter scowled and then shrugged, uncaring. "You might have saved the Matoran, but condemned yourself. Compassion was always your weakness, _brother_. Now you have no weapons."

Lhikan smiled at the Dark Hunter. "Who said I needed weapons?" Clenching his fists, he sent flames shooting up his arms and onto Krekka's hands. Krekka yelled with pain and let go of the burning Toa, blowing on his hands to cool them down. Lhikan turned and kicked the Dark Hunter hard in the stomach, sending the white and blue hulk crashing to the floor. He was about to race for the stairs when he felt something hit back and pain coursed through his body. He jerked and felt himself fall backwards to the first floor of the forge. His body hit the floor with a crash, forcing a sound of pain from Lhikan's lungs.

Nidhiki walked over to where the Fire Toa lay, struggling against the energy webs. "Disappointing. I was hoping for more resistance from you, Lhikan. But I'll give you credit for trying. Krekka, stop lying around and get down here!"

"I wasn't lying around! He kicked me!" Krekka whined.

"I'll kick you _harder_ if you don't get down here!" the green Hunter threatened.

Krekka mumbled something about 'big green meany' but stood up and jumped down to the lower floor. Nidhiki stumbled in the tremors that followed.

"Now pick up that Toa and follow me," he ordered.

Krekka bent down and released Lhikan from the energy webs, picking the Toa up and setting him on his feet. "Walk, Toa."

Lhikan said nothing and started to walk, glaring at the back of Nidhiki's head as they left Vakama's forge. _Please, Mata Nui. Let Vakama be okay._

Even as the Toa thought this Vakama was watching in horror as he saw the Hunters take away his hero, looking like they were escorting him to an execution.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Now, if I was some stereotype villain, I'd say something about how I hope you'll enjoy your stay here," Nidhiki said, lifting the grate that led to the prison below. "But you won't be comfortable and to be honest, I hope you suffer. Krekka, put him in."

The blue and white Hunter obeyed, dropping Lhikan though the hole into the jail below. Lhikan hit the stone floor hard on his back and grimaced in pain.

"Actually, you're rather lucky," Nidhiki continued in a conversational tone, even as Krekka dropped the heavy grate onto the prison opening. "If it were up to me, I would have killed you by now, but we were ordered just to capture you. You'll be out of the way here and will be of no further threat. Now, if you excuse us, we have to report to our employer." He walked out of site and Krekka followed, leaving Lhikan alone in the cell.

The energy bonds around his wrist dissipated and Lhikan pushed himself up, taking the cloth from around his eyes and looking around his cell. _Let's see . . . rough stone walls, no doors or windows . . . the air's a little cool, I'm probably underground somewhere. _Standing, he looked up to the grate above him, calculating the chances of escape. _I could melt through that grate no problem, but how to get up there . . . Too high to jump, nothing to stack, and no way to climb up . . . Nidhiki's right, I'm not getting out of here any time soon._ Glancing around, Lhikan found a good sized rock and sat down upon it in the dusty light, letting his thoughts wander.

He thought of the Matoran he had given the Toa Stones to and how he hoped they'd get to the Great Temple in time. Everything, Metru Nui, the Matoran's future, all of it rested on those six Matoran's shoulders. All morning he had been making his way around Metru Nui delivering special packages to those chosen Matoran. He had only time for a brief warning or advice, not daring to stay longer in case the Hunters discovered him or the Matoran. Nidhiki would recognize the strange packages for what they were: Toa Stones. If the hunters got hold of the Toa Stones or the Matoran, that would be the end of hope for Metru Nui.

Nokama, Onewa, Whenua, Nuju, Matau, and Vakama; they were all the best at what they did and each would make a great Toa on their own, but together? Onewa was too stubborn and Matau thought too much of himself. Whenua and Nuju were complete opposites, one looking to the past, the other to the future, but both didn't pay attention the present. Even Nokama was a bit of a know it all and Vakama, well, he had as much self esteem as Matau had modesty. Lhikan sighed and rubbed his temples. Choosing them was illogical, but still, Lhikan couldn't shake the feeling that this was what the Great Spirit wanted.

Usually, Lhikan would have been more cautious. If he had time, he would have checked with the Ko-Matoran, asked Turaga Dume for advice, done everything to double check his decision. But with the Dark Hunters after him and Turaga Dume acting so strangely, Lhikan had to abandon his cautious nature. _I really have changed_, he thought. He remembered a time, so long ago now it seemed, when he had taken caution a little too far . . . .

--

"Nidhiki. Nidhiki!" someone pounded at the door.

The green Toa groaned and rolled over in his bed. "Go away," he grumbled.

"Come on, sleeping beauty. Time to start working like the rest of us," someone else said, her voice only slightly muffled by the door.

Nidhiki groaned louder. He _really_ didn't want to deal with _her_ right now.

"Do you think he's okay?" asked the first voice, worried.

The second voice snorted. "He's fine. He's just hoping we'll leave. Get _up_, Nidhiki!"

"Leader's orders," added the second.

Complaining just loud enough so they could hear him, the Air Toa rolled out of bed, stumbled over his scythe that somehow ended up on the floor, and went over, cursing, to open the door. Standing in the noonday suns were Lhikan and Tuyet, the first looking anxious, the other looking bored. "Is Le-Metru in danger?" he asked the two Toa, blinking against the hard light.

Lhikan shook his head and Tuyet said, "No. You should be the one telling us that anyway. You're supposed to be on patrol during the day, remember?"

Pointedly ignoring the sarcastic Water Toa, Nidhiki asked Lhikan, "Is Dume in danger?"

"Well, no," Lhikan admitted, "but—"

"Then what's the point of waking me? For your information," he said, glaring at the Water Toa. "I _have_ been working. In fact, I was up all night making sure a herd of Kinloka didn't eat the city."

"Well, isn't that nice," Tuyet replied, unimpressed.

"Anyway," Lhikan interrupted, knowing the two Toa's tendency to argue. "We have more important issues to discuss. Nidhiki, we think the Kanohi dragon's back."

The Air Toa stared at Lhikan's worried expression before bursting out in laughter.

"He's serious," Tuyet said, unsmiling.

"Mata Nui, you can't be serious," Nidhiki said, leaning on his doorway for support. "We defeated that lizard months ago!"

"Drove away, not defeated," reminded the Fire Toa. "There have been reports of noises—"

"It's a city, Lhikan. Noise is _normal_. In fact, it's a good thing. It means the city's working. Now, I'm sure it's nothing the Vahki can't handle, so let me go back to sleep."

"Yes, and we all know how much the Ko Matoran love to make noise," Tuyet snapped.

Nidhiki stopped smiling. "You're sure they're not just having a party? Celebrating the stars in alignment with something or other?"

Tuyet gave him a look and Lhikan said, "I seriously doubt it. Besides, it's not only noise. The tops of the Knowledge Towers have been smashed."

The Air Toa had to admit, that was moderately serious. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"We're going to investigate."

"So you two go. Two Toa are enough for a recon mission."

"I want three, just in case."

Nidhiki looked over his cautious leader, a bit annoyed. If it were up to him, he would have already gone to Ko-Metru and settled the matter. His leader was always a bit too much on the safe side for the Air Toa. "Cautious, aren't you?" he sighed. "I'm surprised you don't have the entire team on high alert."

"Dume wouldn't let me."

_It figures Lhikan would have tried. He'd assemble an army if he could,_ Nidhiki thought to himself. "Fine, I'll come. But you realize how foolish we'll look if it's not the dragon?"

"Better safe than sorry," Lhikan said.

"Yeah, so you tell us three times a day. Let me get my scythe and let's get this thing over with."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tuyet had gone ahead to find the Vahki in the region to get a report while Lhikan and Nidhiki asked the locals where the latest disturbance was and if they saw the dragon. They entered the nearest Knowledge Tower and entered one of the workrooms. There they found Ko-Matoran scholars sitting at long tables surrounded by papers full of star charts, scribbling down notes from large books. Despite their polite requests for attention, none of the Matoran bothered to even glance up. Nidhiki, already cranky from lack of sleep, was about ready to put his scythe at the Matoran's throat, but Lhikan prevented him with a look. After the near death threat, Lhikan told Nidhiki that the Air Toa should 'keep watch,' just in case. The green Toa was tempted to put his scythe at his leader's throat, the Fire Toa was starting to grate on his tired nerves, but Nidhiki restrained himself and stood back to let Lhikan deal with the Matoran.

"Scholar!"

The scholar glanced up, looking annoyed.

"I was wondering if you could tell me if there's been any strange activity here," Lhikan asked quickly, knowing if he didn't act soon he'd lose the Matoran's attention. "I'm not getting any response from the Vahki Keerakh and—"

But it was too late. Assessing that the Toa had nothing to say that would help him predict the future, the Matoran turned back to his work.

Lhikan sighed and glanced back at Nidhiki. The Air Toa was leaning on his scythe, arms crossed and head on arms, blinking sleepily. He smiled as Lhikan looked helplessly back. "You could always try my way. I've learned that people tend to listen more carefully when their lives are on the line."

"Not that acting like criminals doesn't sound fun," Tuyet said, entering the room from behind Nidhiki, "but where I come from, Toa tend to _protect_ Matoran, not threaten them."

"Where I come from," the Air Toa scowled, "we like to get things done. If that means giving a few nicks and cuts here and there, then we do it and get it over with."

"Yes, they do they call your island the Isle of Murder, don't they?" Tuyet asked, getting dangerously close to the green Toa.

"Isle of Thieves," growled Nidhiki, straightening and getting a tighter grip on his scythe. Her tone was really starting to get to him. "Though, murder _was _pretty popular on my home island."

Lhikan stepped between the two Toa. "I think we've got the Matoran's attention, now," he said quietly, giving both Toa warning looks.

The Water Toa looked around to find all the Ko-Matoran looking curiously at the arguing Toa. She smiled and backed away from Nidhiki. "Here. Since you're so socially incompetent I'll show you how to ask Matoran nicely," she said.

Lhikan grabbed hold of Nidhiki as the Air Toa attempted to charge the Water Toa. "Incompetent! I'll show _her_ who's incompetent, that stuck-up—"

Ignoring the cursing Air Toa behind her and turning towards the Matoran, Tuyet raised her voice. "Matoran, the Knowledge Towers are in danger. Any information you have would be helpful in protecting Metru Nui's great treasure."

There was a brief silence.

"The Vahki have all been called to one section of the Metru," one small Matoran offered. "No one knows why."

"Could you point us in the direction the Vahki went?"

The Matoran pointed and Tuyet nodded. "Thank you. See Nidhiki? Matoran cooperate without intimidation. Asking politely works just as fast as threatening and people tend to like you a lot more."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Nidhiki said, still trying to wriggle out of Lhikan's grasp. "I can name a few people who don't like _you_ at all."

"Tuyet, why don't you scout ahead?" Lhikan asked, starting to lose his grip on the Air Toa. "I have a few more questions I want to ask the Matoran. Nidhiki and I will catch up with you later."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they were out in the street and on their way to meet up with Tuyet, Lhikan stopped, turned around, and crossed his arms, frowning.

"I'm guessing this isn't to tell me that you realized how stupid this mission is and that we're heading back for lunch," Nidhiki said.

"You couldn't resist, could you?" Lhikan asked, ignoring the Air Toa's comment. "You just had to act like children and make a scene in public like that. Can't you two ever behave?"

"Okay, first of all," the Air Toa started, pointing to an invisible Tuyet, "That was _her_ fault. She started it by accusing me—"

"I don't care who _starts_ it, Nidhiki. I just expect one of you to be mature enough to end it." He sighed, looking up into the towering spires above.

"Mata Nui, _please_ don't start one of your lectures," Nidhiki groaned.

"We're Toa," Lhikan started, ignoring Nidhiki's dramatic moaning. "We need to act as role models for the Matoran. They're not going to respect us if all they see of us is bickering amongst ourselves."

"Here we go again. Listen, Lhikan. I understand that you're the leader and that I need to respect your orders and so on and so forth. But I draw the line at lectures!"

"Shh," hushed Lhikan, a frown of concentration appearing on his golden mask as he looked up into the sky.

"If you want the bickering to stop, talk to Tuyet and get her to . . ." The Air Toa trailed off as he noticed his leader tense, his golden eyes darting around in the sky. Once silent, Nidhiki heard it too: wings. The next indication of trouble was a large, dark shadow falling across the Toa, and then the distinct cracking of ice.

"Move!" Lhikan shouted.

Nidhiki needed no further urging and the two Toa ran for the nearest Knowledge Tower. Something hit Nidhiki on the mask and he looked up to see the first wave of ice shards. "Incoming!" he shouted, putting on an extra burst of speed and throwing up his arms to cover his head. Lhikan did the same as the ice fragments came raining down, turning on his Hau and protecting them from some of the larger pieces. Reaching the Knowledge Tower door, Nidhiki grabbed the handle and started to pull.

"Get it open!" Lhikan shouted, trying to make himself heard over the sound of the ice shattering on the street.

"I'm trying!" grunted Nidhiki, pushing the door back and forth. "But it's stuck!"

A large hunk of ice, about the size of a Toa, crashed into the road behind them, causing the Toa to jump around and sending cracks through the street. The Fire and Air Toa looked at the chunk of ice, then at each other, and both dived for the door. Finally, throwing his shoulder against the postern as hard as he could, Nidhiki fell inside as the door finally gave way. Lhikan followed shortly and slammed the door behind them.

The sound of tinkling and shattering ice dulled as the Toa caught their breaths, Nidhiki leaning against the wall and Lhikan putting his hands on his knees.

"Well," Nidhiki said. "That was exciting."

Lhikan stood straight. "But dangerous. Did you see that last chunk of ice?"

"Yeah, that thing was huge."

"If that fell on a Ko Matoran, he'd be dead." Lhikan turned and saw a staircase, leading up. "Come on, we have to find the dragon before it smashes into more of the towers."

Nidhiki watched his leader begin the accent and followed, protesting, "You can't still think it's the Kanohi Dragon!"

"I do. What else could cause this? Besides, you heard the wings. And that shadow was hard to miss."

"Yes, I heard the wings, but stop to think a minute, Lhikan."

"You're right. We'll need reinforcements."

"No!" cried Nidhiki exasperatedly. He passed his leader and spread out his arms in front of Lhikan, effectively blocking the staircase. "Stop overreacting for just a moment! Think, use that head of yours. How many wings did you hear?"

"More than enough," Lhikan answered, pushing his way past his companion and taking out his swords. "I'm not taking any chances: if we're going to catch that thing, we need to see where it's going. We should get a good view from the top of the tower. Now, if you're scared, you can go and get Tuyet and you two can go get reinforcements."

"Scared?" repeated the green Toa, watching his leader's back turn a corner. "I'm not scared!" he called up. "I'm reasonable, unlike you!" Fuming, he crossed his arms and stood there, trying to decide whether or not Lhikan would notice if he left for home. Nidhiki picked at the end of his scythe, pondering whether an overly cautious Lhikan was worse than an irritating Tuyet when something black flapped its way down to Nidhiki's height.

Nidhiki frowned as the ice bat settled itself on the blade of his weapon, folding its leather-like wings around itself. Not up to dealing with annoying Rahi, Nidhiki shook the scythe, but the bat hung unperturbed. Shaking it harder the Air Toa only managed to make the Rahi irritated. The black bat started screeching and flapping around Nidhiki's face. Nidhiki tried to repel it using his hands, but the Rahi just dodged out of the Air Toa's grasp. Growling, Nidhiki then picked up his scythe and swung at the annoying bat, yelling and cursing at it with each swing.

"What . . . in Mata Nui's name are you _doing_?" Lhikan asked, leaning around the corner.

The Air Toa stopped, panting slightly, and looked up at his leader. Lhikan looked half amused and half worried. "Oh, shut up," Nidhiki responded, putting away his scythe. "Let's just get this stupid thing over with!" He barreled past Lhikan and headed the rest of the way up the stairs, ignoring his leader's protests.

"Wait, Nidhiki. Nidhiki! Hold on a second, I just realized something!"

"Yeah, so have I," the green Toa mumbled. Turning around one more corner he found a door leading to the top room. He grabbed the door handle and began to turn when Lhikan caught up.

"Wait, Nidhiki! You can't just rush in like that!"

"Oh, yeah? Watch me!" Nidhiki shouted, losing all patience. "I'll show you where your stupid caution gets you." And he opened the door.

The reaction was immediate. Though he would never admit it later, Nidhiki screamed as thousands of ice bats shot by his head and into the hallway, sending the two Toa diving to the floor. The screeching and flapping of wings, usually a small noise, was amplified to a defining roar by the sheer number of the Rahi.

"I told you to wait!" Lhikan shouted over the noise, attempting to cover his head.

"You're the one who wanted to go chasing dragons!" the Air Toa shouted back.

"You're _both_ complete morons!" shouted a third person. The red and green Toa looked up to find Tuyet standing in the hall with a squad of Vahki behind her.

Showing no signs of acknowledgment of the Toa on the floor, the Vahki took out large nets and began to herd the ice bats to waiting containers. While the mechanical beings did their work, Tuyet grabbed Lhikan and Nidhiki's wrists and pulled them up and out of the building.

"Well, _some_one's in a bad mood," Nidhiki muttered, once outside the tower.

Tuyet spun around. "'Someone' has had to put up with two idiots as partners! Lhikan, you know what your so called 'dragon' was? Ice bats!"

"But . . ." Lhikan started, looking a little sheepish, "the towers were getting smashed, and I thought . . ."

"A bunch of them got stuck inside a building and smashed their way out. The Vahki had it under control; there was no need for Toa!"

"No need so sound so accusing," Nidhiki said, trying to contain his laughter at the sight of Lhikan's face. "After all, it's not his fault if he's overly cautious."

"His caution made us look like fools," the Water Toa hissed through gritted teeth. "And don't think you're not to blame too, Nidhiki. Your lack of caution let the Rahi loose! Honestly, I don't know why I put up with either of you." The blue Toa turned and started to walk away. "I'm going home where I can get some _real_ work done."

"Boy, she sure gets grumpy when her pride is hurt," the green Toa mumbled, watching her back till it was out of sight. "And she wasn't even cowering on the floor like we were."

"True, but she had a point," Lhikan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I do take caution too far sometimes."

"Yeah, but that's okay. It balances with my complete lack of caution."

The Fire Toa smiled. "That is true, if only we could work together on it. Still, maybe it was good for me to get a lecture instead of give it."

"Does this mean you'll stop with the speeches?" Nidhiki asked excitedly.

"No."

"Awwww."

"Oh, stop griping."

"Stop sounding like Tuyet."

Lhikan laughed. "Alright, deal."

"Good, glad we agree on something. Now, I'm going to go back to bed. And don't you dare say 'be careful,' or I'll spread this story of how you thought ice bats with an attitude were the Kanohi dragon all around the city."

As the green Toa headed in the direction of Le Metru, Lhikan lost his smile. _You may scoff at caution now, Nidhiki, but one of these days, you'll see why I make such a point of it._ Then, deciding his friends had the right idea, Lhikan started to head home as well.

--

Lhikan opened his eyes. It was dark now in the cell, a small spot of moonslight coming through the grate. The Fire Toa stood up, stretching and walked around the cell a few times, bored. His caution had cost him his pride on a few occasions, but it had also saved his life along with the lives of others. Nidhiki just couldn't see the importance of caution, which, Lhikan suspected, was part of the reason they never really got along.

His ponderings were broken off as his ears picked up multiple metallic footsteps in the silence. He hurried over to the grate in time to see Nidhiki looking down upon him. "Nidhiki," he greeted with no warmth in his voice.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Lhikan asked, confused.

"Let yourself be caught," the insectoid hissed back, leaning close to the grate. "It's been bugging me all day! I _knew_ it was too easy; you're much too cautious just to be caught like that. You wanted us to get you, why?"

Lhikan looked up with a blank face. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Besides, does it really matter now? You got me, isn't that what you wanted?"

Nidhiki only narrowed his eyes. "No, you had something else in mind. This was deliberate. You threw all caution to the wind back there so you must have had a plan . . ." The Dark Hunter trailed off, his eyes growing wide. "That's it. You wanted us to follow you. It was a distraction, the whole thing!" Nidhiki growled as he stood. "You deliberately didn't outrun us while we chased you and you deliberately let yourself get caught. You weren't careless; you took great care in what you did. Argh! I've been so stupid! The Matoran, you wanted us to leave the Matoran alone."

The Fire Toa's mask remained expressionless as the Dark Hunter once again leaned down to the grate.

"I've figured you out, Lhikan. I'll track down those Matoran and find out what you gave to them and all your caution will have been in vain. Farewell, brother. I will take great pleasure in the knowledge that you can do more harm." Nidhiki stood and turned to leave when Lhikan's voice rose from the cell.

"You are correct; I've already done my harm. But my caution has been far from useless."

"I'm sure."

Lhikan heard the footsteps fade away and sighed. He _hoped_ his caution hadn't been for naught. But all thoughts were driven from his mind as a sudden pain filled every corner of his body. Though he was unaware of the fact, he screamed as the cell was illuminated by the golden light that shone from the Toa's body.

Nidhiki paused at the yell, turned and went wide eyed as light as bright as the suns blazed from the cell. He ran back and peered down in time to see Lhikan fall to his knees, hugging his body as it began to shift and change. The Dark Hunter grimaced as he watched Lhikan's form grow small and weak. Slowly, the light dimmed and the cries died out and all that was left of the mighty hero was a red and gold Turaga. Trying to hide his astonishment, Nidhiki snorted. "Pitiful. You're even weaker now than you were as Toa."

"Perhaps, but my strength will feed others more powerful than you."

"Great. You even _sound_ like a Turaga, all cryptic. What's _that_ supposed to mea . . . ." Nidhiki could have kicked himself. "You gave them Toa Stones. You made more Toa! You and your stupid sacrifices, Lhikan! It'll all come to no good, you'll see!" Nidhiki stood and hurried off in the direction of the Coliseum to report his findings.

Lhikan, alone once again, grabbed the staff lying beside him and pulled himself up. Despite the pain in his joints and back, he felt happy and relieved. Lowering himself down on a rock, he allowed himself a small smile of triumph. "Wrong, Nidhiki," he said to no one. "This time, my caution has paid off."

**A/N:** Aaaaand it's done! There's a short epilogue left and that's it. Unless someone has a suggestion for another chapter (which any of you are welcome to request), I'm going to count this story finished (for real this time). As always, I love to hear what you people have to say! Reviews are cherished.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Wow, this story just doesn't seem to want to die. O.O But I'm not complaining, I'm having a lot of fun writing this, especially this chapter. This chapter was requested by Sotwt who wanted a chapter about Turaga Lhikan training Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua in the jail cell. So, here it is, I hope you enjoy it Sotwt and I hope everyone else enjoys it too!

**Disclaimer:** Tollian does not own Bionicle, she is just borrowing the Toa Metru, Turaga Lhikan, and some extras from LEGO. No Toa were harmed in the writing of this chapter. (Except for Whenua who got a small bruise on his head.)

Six: Patience

"Vakama?"

The crimson Toa turned and attempted a smile. "Yes, Lhikan?"

"Forgive the intrusion, but I thought you might need some company, despite what you said earlier."

Vakama shrugged. The Vahki transport went over a large bump and the two fire beings braced themselves and the vehicle jumped. "I just . . . needed a break from my teammates," explained the Fire Toa. "But you're welcome to sit."

"Then I shall do so, thank you." Lhikan slowly lowered himself down, grimacing as his new Turaga form complained. "So, why do you feel the need to separate yourself?" he asked when sitting.

Again, the ember-colored Toa shrugged. "I just don't feel like one of them."

"Explain."

"You mean besides the fact they think I'm crazy?" Vakama asked, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

"They seem to think you sensible enough to follow you," Turaga Lhikan offered. "Back just then, when the Vahki were chasing us, you showed you were a competent leader and Toa and led us to safety. Besides, I know you too well, Vakama; there's something else. What's _really_ bothering you?"

The Fire Toa gazed out at the surrounding city, now abandoned as the Vahki transport headed for the Coliseum under the gathering storm. "It's childish," he muttered.

"Tell me anyway."

"It's . . . it's my mask power. I know it takes time for mask powers to reveal themselves. But the others have their powers!" He motioned to the hold where most of the Toa were sitting. "And I know more about masks than any of them! I don't see why I don't have my powers unless . . . ." Vakama let the silence finish for him.

"Vakama, listen to me. You are a Toa. It is a solid fact. Just because you haven't discovered your mask powers doesn't mean you won't. You just need a little patience. Besides," the golden Turaga said, chuckling. "Your brothers didn't discover them as easily as you think they did."

"What do you mean?" Vakama asked, looking at the smirking Turaga.

"Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua probably won't admit what happened in the cell we were in. Trust me; you aren't the only one who learned to be patient today. Since I won't be able to put you to a task to help you learn your mask power, let me tell you what transpired there and maybe you can learn something from your brothers' lessons . . . ."

--

Lhikan liked to think that for a Fire Toa, he was relatively patient. He had learned through the years how to keep himself occupied during long hours of waiting. During the Dark Hunter war, he learned play little games with himself to prevent him from drifting off in the trenches. On long patrols, his duty kept him alert. But now, as a Turaga, held in a cell somewhere underground with nothing to do but wait, there was nothing to keep the ex-Toa from being bored out of his mind.

He had paced every inch of the cell and felt that he could name all the rocks in the room. It was a very boring room; circular and rough, the only light coming from a beam that the grate let through. Lhikan was interested to find the ceiling was very spiky, large stalactites hanging from the roof in an intimidating fashion. There were piles of rocks littering the floor, Lhikan guessed from an earthquake that might have happened. It had been days since his transformation into Turaga and neither Nidhiki nor anyone else had visited him in that time. He was having a hard time keeping his mind off of the danger Metru Nui was in. The only item of interest had been a golden helmet, hidden in a far corner of the cell between two large boulders.

It was dusty from years of disservice. But after rubbing off the dust Lhikan saw it was beautifully crafted, colored deep majestic red and gold. For a long time he tried not to think of whether it had belonged to someone also trapped in the prison that perished there. But eventually he gave up and sat down on a relatively comfortable stone, and listened to the helmet's story. Lhikan would have assumed it was a ceremonial piece of armory if it wasn't for the fact the metal was scarred with scrapes and dents from countless battles. The style indicated it was very old; older than Lhikan, certainly. Judging from the size, it probably had belonged to a Toa long ago.

In his mind eye, he could see a brave Fire Toa, charging into the midst of battle wearing the helmet. It seemed almost tragic that the helmet was left in the cell; it belonged in the Archives where the Matoran could admire it. Instead, it lay here forgotten along with the Toa who bore it. Lhikan couldn't help but wonder if he shared the same fate. Was he to collect dust here in this cell, to be forgotten by the people he once protected?

Then, Lhikan put on the helmet. There wasn't really a reason to, but he did and surprisingly it fit, sort of. The Turaga laughed at himself and how he must have looked. The helmet was much too big to be a Turaga's helmet, so big in fact it was like a second mask. The flaps went over his shoulders and the metal pieces at the side and front hid most of his Hau. But he could still see out of it and it didn't rattle around his head when he walked. So he didn't take it off and therefore had it on when he had visitors.

Or fellow prisoners, to be exact. The Vahki brought in three Toa late one afternoon, heralded by cursing from one of the Toa.

" . . . pieces of scrap! We're Toa! T-O-A! Let GO! I swear, once my elemental powers recharge I'm going to crush you Vahki!"

"Will you shut up already? They're not listening!"

Lhikan looked up and saw two Vahki Zadakh lifting the grate above the cell. Three Toa were pushed into view, guided by two Vahki a piece, and were unceremoniously dropped into the cell. An Ice Toa was first, who managed to land on his feet with a bit of stumbling, but to no avail as the Vahki dropped an Earth Toa right on top of him and the two fell to the ground. Lastly, the cursing Stone Toa was thrown in and the grate replaced, the brown Toa landing on top of the other two with an 'oomph!' The Vahki left without another word and Lhikan backed into the shadows, waiting to see who these strange Toa were and why they were imprisoned.

"Get off me, Whenua!" hissed the Ice Toa, trying to twist his head to glare.

"Well, Onewa has to get off me first," the Earth Toa, Whenua, replied.

Lhikan clutched his staff with sudden ferocity. _Whenua . . . the Onu-Matoran I gave the Toa Stone to! They got captured?_

The Stone Toa, Onewa, quickly got off, not offering his comrades a hand up. Whenua stood and held his hand down to the Ice Toa who pointedly ignored it. Lhikan frowned.

The light reflected off the Ice Toa's white armor and lit the room a bit more. Lhikan studied the Toa from a far corner, hiding behind one of the largest boulders. The armor was almost pristine, with very few nicks or dents in it. _Not a lot of experience then,_ Lhikan thought.

"Whenua, stand under the grate and give me a lift," Onewa instructed.

Whenua obligingly stood in the dusty light the grate let through and bent down to allow Onewa to get purchase on his shoulders. The Ice Toa roamed the cell, his face hiding his thoughts.

"D-do you think Vakama and the others got out alright?" Whenua asked, lifting the Stone Toa.

Lhikan felt his heart rise. _So Vakama might still be out there! The city still has hope._

"Who cares? That smelt-head wouldn't know what to do even if he did escape. After all, whose idea was it to go chasing around for those stupid Great Disks? It was a total waste of time and energy. Lift me higher."

Whenua tried to straighten more. "Well, we _did_ defeat the Morbuzahk with them."

"Yeah, then we got called imposters and got imprisoned."

"You're wasting breath," the Ice Toa said, turning towards the wobbling tower. "And time. There's nothing we can do now but wait."

"No! We gotta get out of here!" Onewa said through gritted teeth, grabbing the grate and pushing. When the grate didn't even stir, he swung himself up, tried pulling, and then let his feet drop onto Whenua again when nothing happened.

"Just great," mumbled the Earth Toa. "When I woke up, all I used to worry about was cataloging. Now I'll go down in history as Metru Nui's most wanted."

"What are you complaining about?" laughed the Stone Toa, trying to jerk the metal. "_I'm_ the one suffering here, stuck with a Ko-Matoran big brain—" The Ice Toa turned and glared at this. "—and an Onu-Matoran stock boy!"

"Hey!" Whenua said, tempted to drop Onewa. "That's _Archivist_, to you, hammer-swinger."

Onewa just rolled his eyes and instructed the black Toa to put him down. He then went over to the wall and started rubbing his hands on it, looking for weak spots. He tapped one grey rock, shook his head, and went on to the next. "Well, Nuju? Coming up with any brilliant plans while we're _working_ over here?"

"The grate is too heavy to lift, there are no doors, no other windows, and we don't have our weapons or elemental powers," the Ice Toa said, entering the beam of light again and shaking his head. "I'd say you're wasting your time."

"Whoa, Nuju is even more pessimistic than _you_ today, Whenua."

"No, I'm just facing the facts. We will never escape. Our freedom is gone, our future is hopeless."

Lhikan couldn't take anymore. They were teammates, not enemies. Toa worked together to get out of tough situations yet these three seemed content with arguing amongst themselves. The Turaga could see several escape plans and yet . . . He sighed, reminding himself that they were new Toa and had no training. _So I'll give them some training._

"Toa? Giving up hope?" he said, coming forth from the shadows.

Nuju spun around to face him, Whenua jumped, and Onewa frowned, all three huddling in the beam of light. When Lhikan revealed himself only to be a Turaga, Onewa stepped forward.

"Turaga? I know you not," he said.

Lhikan frowned a moment, then realized that the helmet must really hide his features. He smiled. _Perfect. _"Your concern should be with your own identity, not mine."

The three Toa looked uneasily at each other. Lhikan thought they were all probably thinking, 'this guy's nuts' but he really didn't care. What was important now was getting out of the cell and helping Vakama save Metru Nui.

"Well, I'm Onewa, this is Whenua and Nuju," Onewa introduced, motioning at each of his comrades in turn.

"So what are you in for?" Nuju asked.

Lhikan chuckled. "Much the same as you, I would think. But again, my past is not important as your future is, correct?"

At this, Nuju actually gave a small smile. "Yes," he said.

"So, what do you plan to do about it?" Lhikan asked, settling himself down on a rock. "What are your plans and goals?"

"Well, we want to escape," Whenua offered when no one else spoke.

"And?"

"Uh . . . ."

There was an awkward silence while Lhikan patiently waited for an answer. "What about freedom?" he finally asked.

"That's what we said," the Stone Toa said, crossing his arms.

The Turaga shook his head, laying his staff across his knees. "Freedom and escape are different objectives but both are easily realized."

"What are you talking about? You're stuck in here with us," Onewa said, a little irritated. Lhikan thought he was probably the type who hated riddles and cryptic messages.

"I have freedom, even in here," the Turaga said, gesturing to the cell. "But for escape, Toa mask powers are needed."

"Uh, we, um, don't really know our mask powers yet," muttered Whenua.

"And I doubt we ever will," added Nuju, earning a scowl from Onewa.

"Oh, never doubt what you are capable of," Lhikan said, standing. "Your mask powers will come in time when you have fully realized yourself."

"We don't have time for that!" Onewa interrupted. "We need to find a way out of here."

"I agree, Onewa, we must not lose focus of our goal," Lhikan said, walking up to the Toa. "But you are wrong; we _do_ have time, for without mask powers, we aren't going anywhere. There is a way to discover your mask powers quicker, but it will take patience, perseverance, and faith."

"Faith?" Whenua asked.

"I have tasks for each of you which you must do without fail. They will seem ridiculous, but you must trust me when I say it will help us escape."

Onewa seemed about to disagree when Whenua placed a large hand on his shoulder.

"In the end, this is your decision," Lhikan offered. "You may wait for your comrades to come for you, but I don't think you would be happy just waiting around, correct?"

"We need to talk it over," Onewa said, the other two nodding.

"Take your time." Lhikan walked back over to his sitting rock and waited. The Toa moved to the other side of the cell and talked in hushed tones. Nuju shook his head no and at one point Onewa yelled "You have anything better to do?" but at last they came over with their answer.

"We'll do it," Onewa said. "Give us these tasks."

Lhikan smiled beneath the helmet, his golden eyes glinting. "Then let's get started."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're . . . joking, right? You're not serious."

"On the contrary, Nuju. I am very serious. I warned you, these tasks will not make sense."

The Ice Toa looked down upon the gold Turaga and gave him an icy frown. "You want me to move rocks into a pile from one side of the cell to another? How will that possibly help us escape?"

"Start and you will find out," replied Lhikan. The Ice Toa sighed, mumbled something, but obeyed. Lhikan then went over to the other two Toa. "Whenua, I want you to walk across the room with this on." He held up a blindfold and Whenua looked at it, wide eyed. But he took it without complaint.

"This _will_ make sense later, right?" he asked, securing the blindfold on his mask.

"Yes, in time," Lhikan assured him.

So Whenua started across the room and immediately almost ran into Nuju.

"Hey, watch it!" Nuju warned. Whenua mumbled an apology, started off again, and tripped over a rock.

At this, Onewa let out a laugh. "Oh, there is no way in Karazahni you're making me do something _that_ stupid," he said.

Lhikan shrugged. "Fine. Then you may wait over there. When I think of a suitable task for you, I'll tell you." He pointed to the far side of the cell. Onewa looked smug, as if he expected this special treatment, and went over to the wall, plopping himself down on the floor and leaning against a large rock.

The other two Toa did their duty while Onewa watched and laughed. Nuju was starting to pant and shake from the effort; after all, he was a scholar and not used to such labor, even with his Toa strength. Whenua thought he had the room mapped out in his mind, every rock in its certain place, only to find it changed by Nuju and he would have to start from scratch. This went on for quite a while until the suns light from the grate had moved across the cell.

"Do not rely on your memory," Lhikan offered when Whenua stood in the middle of the room, looking uncertain. "Look _beyond_ your history and _see_ what is."

"Hey, I'm not a Rahi bat, okay? I can't see in the dark," Whenua said, just before tripping over a slab of rock and landed hard in front of Onewa.

The Toa of Stone laughed until tears started to come out his eyes. "Soon you'll be ready for a game of 'pin the tail on the ash bear,' record keeper," he said between bouts of hysteria.

Whenua growled in the direction he thought Onewa was, then picked himself up and tried again.

During this short exchange, Lhikan had gone over to the Toa of Ice's pile where Nuju was dropping his latest rock on the top. The pile had grown taller than Lhikan and yet only a portion of the stones in the cell were used.

"I could toil at this task forever and still learn nothing for the future," he said, almost pleadingly to the Turaga.

"Today you can learn that building the tallest tower begins with the placement of a single stone."

Nuju was about to reply when Onewa's laugh once again filled the room.

"Build a tower?" he asked. "A thinker would never lay hands on stone. They're too busy with their heads in the stars."

The white Toa was about to step forward but Lhikan held up his staff in front of the advancing Toa and Nuju stepped back.

"A Toa's duty is to _all_ Matoran, regardless of village," the Turaga said, walking to Onewa. "So you shall help both your brothers." He held out a blindfold identical to Whenua's and a small stone, and Onewa's mouth fell open.

The look of dismay was too much for Nuju, who burst out laughing, and Whenua took off his blindfold, saw, and joined his white brother.

"Serves you right, builder," Whenua said.

"Or do you not want to work like the rest of us?" added Nuju.

Onewa scowled, snatched the blindfold and rock from the Turaga, and started to tie the blindfold, hands shaking with rage. The other two continued with their work, still chuckling to themselves.

"Here, let me help you with that," Lhikan offered, seeing the trouble Onewa was having with the blindfold. Onewa crossed his arms but let Lhikan tie it without compliant. However, Lhikan could almost feel the animosity emanating from the Toa. "This is not meant to punish you, Onewa," he said softly. "It is just meant to teach you a lesson."

The Toa snorted. "Yeah? What are you trying to teach me, Turaga? Humility?"

"If that is what you need to learn, then yes. In the meantime, help your brothers and ponder on what I have said."

"They're not my 'brothers,' they're a nuisance," the brown Toa replied, standing and adjusting the blindfold a bit. "They show me no respect."

"And what have you done to deserve their respect? Laugh at them? Perhaps you need to see it through their eyes."

Onewa paused, but said nothing.

"Ordering your comrades around is not the way to get things done. You need to understand them and work with them. Now, get to your task and think."

"Here, builder," Nuju said, coming over and dropping a rock into Onewa's waiting hands. The Stone Toa stumbled under the sudden weight, but said nothing and followed Nuju as best he could.

Soon enough, Onewa was lost with Whenua and just as tired as Nuju. But oddly enough, Onewa found he wasn't mad at the Turaga any longer. In a way, he almost felt productive. When he was a Matoran and working on building a new village, there was a sense of companionship found among the workers. There was something bonding about a bunch of people doing the same, sometimes meaningless, work, an understanding among them. In the cell, sharing this experience with his brothers, Onewa had time to think and try to understand his companions.

Unfortunately, Whenua didn't feel the same. Throughout the exercise, he found himself growing angry. He couldn't remember ever hearing about a Toa doing something this stupid! He felt lost; he never felt lost before, even when in the most twisting place in the Archives. Besides, constantly tripping over rocks and getting more bruised by the second did nothing to help his mood. Then he and Onewa ran into each other, both falling to the floor and Onewa's rock landing on Whenua's head, it turned to be too much for the Earth Toa.

Whenua tore off the blindfold and threw it across the cell. "That was a complete waste of time!" he said. "I should be doing my duty!"

On queue, Lhikan was there to calm the Toa. "Without self discovery, you will never find your escape," he said, tapping the large Toa on the chest with his staff. "This is every Toa's duty to the Great Spirit." With that said Lhikan went over to the other side of the room and left the Toa gathered.

"The only thing I'm discovering is that the Turaga's nuts," Whenua murmured.

Onewa frowned. To him, Whenua didn't seem one to insult like that. _He must really be mad_, he thought. _Like a landslide, powerful, and once started, almost unstoppable. I need to talk him out of this before he does something he's going to regret._ "Whenua, you should sit down for a bit and cool off," he advised.

"And what if I don't?" Whenua spat back.

"Sit down, Whenua."

Instead of calming down, Whenua turned to face the Stone Toa and glared. "Taking orders from a Turaga is one thing, but from an overgrown hammer swinger—!" he yelled, ready to tackle Onewa to the ground.

Onewa frowned. Obviously, Whenua wasn't in a listening mood. Something clicked in his mind and without realizing it, Onewa's mask began to glow a bright gold.

_SIT DOWN._ The order entered Whenua's head like a hammer, making the charging Toa stumble.

_SIT __**DOWN**__._ This time it was like someone was pushing at him, the insistence not allowing Whenua to take even one more step forward.

_SIT DOWN, __**NOW**__!_ The last was so forceful Whenua found himself sitting on the ground, panting from the effort of resisting.

"That's it. You're _history,_ builder! Even if I don't know how you did that," the Earth Toa said, trying to keep the unease out of his voice.

By this time, Nuju had enough as well. He was sick of listening to his comrades continually argue while nothing productive got done! So he decided to end it. "Stop," he ordered, and looked over at the wall. _I need a barrier,_ he thought. His mask began to glow white like a star and a beam shot from it, outlining a piece of the wall which broke into fragments and flew to hang in the air between Onewa and Whenua.

"H-how'd you do that?" Whenua asked, his surprise making him forget his anger. He tried to see around the rocks but to little avail.

Onewa turned to Nuju to ask the same when he and Nuju's eyes met.

"You're mask is glowing!" they both exclaimed, each pointing to the other.

Nuju reached up to touch his mask. It didn't feel different, not hotter than normal or anything. But as soon as he started thinking about that, the light from his mask slowly dimmed and the floating rocks fell to the ground, shaking the three Toa.

A small cough from Lhikan made them all turn. "I believe it is time to depart," the Turaga said, standing in the doorway unwittingly made by Nuju.

"You did it, Nuju!" cried Whenua, jogging towards the opening.

"Good job, scholar," Onewa said, patting Nuju amiably on the shoulder. "And you said we'd never get out."

"I . . . guess I did, didn't I?" He smiled, looking proud of himself. "Yes, I did!"

"Enough dwelling on the past," Whenua said. "I'm looking forward to getting out of here. Let's go."

Lhikan smiled and followed the Toa out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oookay . . . now what?"

"Don't look at me," Nuju said. "I did my part in our great escape. It's someone else's turn now."

They had wandered around the tunnels for what seemed like a long time. Onewa, who had an okay sense of direction, was lost without the suns for reference and Nuju was not much of a traveler. The Turaga simply said nothing and followed them as they wandered.

"Besides," the white Toa continued, motioning towards the tunnel ahead of them. "All that lies ahead is shadow. I don't see how we can continue forward."

"Hey," laughed Whenua, walking past Onewa and Nuju to be in front, suddenly taking the lead. "It has to be better than what's behind us, right?" He started walking forward, not noticing how the way ahead of him became brighter until Onewa pointed it out.

"Whenua, your mask power!" the Stone Toa exclaimed.

Whenua stopped and turned around, finally noticing how indeed a beam of light emanated from his mask.

"Hey, not in the eyes!" Onewa said, raising his hand, but smiling none the less.

Smiling, Whenua turned to face ahead again and started walking. "Follow me guys, our future just got a whole lot brighter." He was feeling confident and just happy to find his mask power. Now he felt like a true Toa.

The Stone Toa was happy to let Whenua lead until he stumbled over a small rock, hurting his foot. "Hey, Whenua, can that mask glow any brighter?" Onewa said, still finding it difficult to see in the semi-darkness.

"It's only brighter than you, brother," answered the ebony Toa. "Besides, we don't want it too bright; light can scare away Rahi, but it also can attract some dangerous ones."

Onewa considered making a snappy comment back and decided against it. Whenua had a point; as much as Onewa enjoyed seeing the path ahead clearly, he much more enjoyed not getting attacked by Rahi. He jumped when he felt something poke his back until he looked behind him and realized it was just the Turaga prodding at him, trying to get the Stone Toa moving again.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Nuju asked after a while. "We don't seem to be going anywhere."

"Relax, I know these tunnels like the back of my hand," boasted Whenua. "Now that I can see them, anyway. Have patience, brother, it takes a while to travel these tunnels. But we should be nearing an opening, soo—hold up!" The Earth Toa held up a hand to motion for everyone to stop.

"What is it?" Onewa asked, voice hushed.

"I heard something," Whenua whispered back.

"Vahki?"

"Or worse. Whatever it is, it's coming."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, where did Matau go?" Nokama asked, looking around the dark tunnel.

"I think he said something about scouting ahead," offered Vakama. "It was odd though; he had the strangest expression when he told me."

"Like what?" asked the Water Toa, quickening her pace to walk beside Vakama.

The Fire Toa's expression was confused. "Like he had just heard some great joke. Anyway, he said not to wait for him, so we should keep moving forward. I'm sure we'll meet up with him eventually . . . as long as he doesn't get lost."

"Or something else meets with him first," Nokama added quietly. The two Toa looked at each other, both reminded of the danger that lurked in the tunnels, and quickened their pace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"AAAAHHHH!"

Whenua's yell startled both Onewa and Nuju, both jumping into action as their brother was thrown down and back by a ferocious looking Vahki. Without the slightest hesitation the Vahki was on top of the Earth Toa, effectively pinning him down. Then, to everyone's confusion, the Vahki started laughing. In a familiar voice too.

But Whenua was still in defense mode and didn't register that fact. Instead, he made his mask glow more until it was painfully bright. Only then did the Vahki stop laughing. It held up its hands and then said, in chute-speak, "Hey, turn out the bright-light!"

That startled Whenua into realizing who it sounded like. "Matau?" he asked, turning off his mask.

The 'Vahki' stood, laughing again, and shimmered away revealing a very smug looking Matau. "_Toa_ Matau to you, Whenua."

At that moment, Vakama and Nokama came around the curve, both looking very happy to see their brothers all in one place.

"Shape shifting?" asked Whenua, standing and brushing off some of the dirt.

"Yep," confirmed Matau, and gestured to Nokama who came to stand beside him, "and you should hear Nokama translate Kikanalo."

Everyone gathered around, glad to see friendly company, except for Vakama who was staring at Lhikan with a frown on his face. Lhikan gave Vakama a steady look, debating whether to reveal himself to his friend yet or to wait. Vakama meanwhile felt a strange feeling of recognition as he looked into the Turaga's eyes, yet he knew he had never seen this Turaga before.

"So, we've all discovered our mask powers?" Whenua asked.

Vakama brought his head up with a snap, the feeling of confusion overwhelmed by dismay. _All of them?_ he thought. _They've __**all**__ found their mask powers?_ As the other Toa nodded, the Fire Toa felt his dismay turn into depression. _Everyone but me_. He turned away from the group and therefore missed the concerned glance Nokama sent him.

But the other Toa continued their conversation, unaware of Vakama's disappointment. "How did you know we would be here?" asked Nuju, actually smiling.

"We didn't," corrected Nokama, turning back to the discussion. "We came for Toa Lhikan."

"Well, he's not here," informed Onewa. "Unless he can turn invisible."

Everyone's attention was diverted as the previously silent Turaga gave a small chuckle. "Well, not exactly," he said, and lifted his helmet, revealing the Noble Hau underneath.

There was a collective breath in as the Toa softly gasped and Vakama stepped forward. "Toa . . . Lhikan?" he asked.

"No, Vakama. You are Toa. I am Turaga Lhikan."

Vakama was about to say something else when Whenua interjected, "W-why didn't you tell us who you were?" The Earth Toa felt awful for acting so childish around such a grand hero. He could tell Onewa and Nuju felt the same way by the expression on their faces.

"You're task was to discover who _you_ are. Only with such knowledge would your mask powers reveal themselves."

"Quick-stop!" exclaimed Matau, holding up both his hands. "Where did _your_ power go?"

"It lives on, in all of you," said Lhikan. But he did not bother to further explain. He had more pressing matters on mind. Turning to Vakama, he asked with the concern plain in his voice, "The heart of Metru Nui, you have it safe?"

Vakama looked at his fellow Toa, then back down to Lhikan. "Well," he said slowly, sounding like an unsure student, "we're rescuing you now."

Lhikan let out a shaking sight, shaking his head. "No, no, no!" he said. "_I'm _not Metru Nui's heart! The Matoran are!" He was panicking now. If Vakama and the other Toa had spent time searching for _him_, then the Matoran were in more danger than he thought. _There's no more time for patience_, he thought to himself. _The Matoran cannot wait._

--

Vakama nodded. "Yes, I know what happens next. We find Dume, the Vahki come, we steal the transport, and head for the Coliseum."

Lhikan looked at his obviously depressed friend. "Vakama, I must tell you: I do not blame you for thinking 'Metru Nui's heart' was me. You were misguided; it was my fault." He took a breath before explaining. "During the Dark Hunter war, my fellow Toa and I developed a system of code words to use when sending messages to each other. After the war ended, we were all so used to this new language we used it without realizing it. Metru Nui's heart meant the Matoran and it never occurred to me to explain."

"There's no need to apologize," Vakama said. "What's done is done. Now we just have to focus on saving the Matoran."

"Yes, there will be time for patience after this is done. But to go back to my original point, don't worry about your mask power, Vakama. It will come in time."

The Fire Toa sighed, staring out at the Coliseum and the surrounding black and red sky. "I certainly hope so," he said distractedly. A flash of lighting turned his red armor white for a moment and emphasized his frown. "I just hope it's in time to save the Matoran."

**A/N:**And Nuju is redeemed! . . . sorry, it's just a big problem I have with the movie. In LOMN they portray Nuju as a pessimistic, whiny, geek who is really whimpy (as can be seen by his lines ex. 'We will never escape! Our freedom is gone, our future is hopeless!') So now I have the chance to rewrite these scenes and make Nuju cool! Yay!  
Ahem, anyway. Sorry if the end seemed rushed. The story just kept growing, I wanted it to end, but I couldn't find a good stopping point without writing another three pages. So I had to cut it off a bit.  
Well, as always I love to hear what you all have to say! Please review.  
Also, if any of you have suggestions or requests, I'd love to hear them. As far as the story goes, I might have an idea for another chapter but don't expect anything really soon. We'll see.


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